Secure visual and computational boundary for a subset of resources on a computing machine

ABSTRACT

A computer stores, within a single user account, multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additional computing resources. The multiple supervised computing resources are associated with a security policy. The computer executes a first instance of a specified application that lacks read access and lacks write access to any and all of the multiple supervised computing resources. The computer executes, simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance of the specified application that accesses at least a portion of the multiple supervised computing resources. The computer applies rules from the security policy to the second instance of the specified application while foregoing applying the rules from the security policy to the first instance of the specified application.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/260,408, titled “SECURE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT FOR MIXED USECOMPUTER,” filed on Aug. 19, 2021, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to computer architecture. Some embodiments relate toa secure computing environment for a mixed use computer.

BACKGROUND

A user of a computer, such as an employee of a business, may use thesame computer for business and personal use. The computer may storebusiness applications or files together with personal applications orfiles. As the foregoing illustrates, techniques for providing a securecomputing environment for a mixed use computer may be desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computing machine, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system in which a mixed used computingmachine may be used, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process associated with providing avisual tracking indicator, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate example screens visually indicating tracked anduntracked resources, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process associated with visuallyindicating tracked resources, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system in which operations may berestricted based on a security policy, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a table of operations that may be allowed or blockedby a security policy, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example input and output of a screen captureoperation, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example process associated with operationrestriction based on security policy, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a computing machine with a work zone, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a first example process associated with asecure computing environment for a personal and business mixed usesystem, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a second example process associated with asecure computing environment for a mixed use system, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example process associated with applying asecurity policy to a portion of running instances of an application, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process associated with executingthe same application in supervised and unsupervised zones, in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example process associated with displayingan organizational indicator for an organizational computing resource, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

Aspects of the present technology may be implemented as part of acomputer system. The computer system may be one physical machine, or maybe distributed among multiple physical machines, such as by role orfunction, or by process thread in the case of a cloud computingdistributed model. In various embodiments, aspects of the technology maybe configured to run in virtual machines that in turn are executed onone or more physical machines. It will be understood by persons of skillin the art that features of the technology may be realized by a varietyof different suitable machine implementations.

The system includes various engines, each of which is constructed,programmed, configured, or otherwise adapted, to carry out a function orset of functions. The term engine as used herein means a tangibledevice, component, or arrangement of components implemented usinghardware, such as by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)or field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for example, or as acombination of hardware and software, such as by a processor-basedcomputing platform and a set of program instructions that transform thecomputing platform into a special-purpose device to implement theparticular functionality. An engine may also be implemented as acombination of the two, with certain functions facilitated by hardwarealone, and other functions facilitated by a combination of hardware andsoftware.

In an example, the software may reside in executable or non-executableform on a tangible machine-readable storage medium. Software residing innon-executable form may be compiled, translated, or otherwise convertedto an executable form prior to, or during, runtime. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the engine, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations. Accordingly, an engineis physically constructed, or specifically configured (e.g., hardwired),or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specifiedmanner or to perform part or all of any operations described herein inconnection with that engine.

Considering examples in which engines are temporarily configured, eachof the engines may be instantiated at different moments in time. Forexample, where the engines comprise a general-purpose hardware processorcore configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processorcore may be configured as respective different engines at differenttimes. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor core, forexample, to constitute a particular engine at one instance of time andto constitute a different engine at a different instance of time.

In certain implementations, at least a portion, and in some cases, all,of an engine may be executed on the processor(s) of one or morecomputers that execute an operating system, system programs, andapplication programs, while also implementing the engine usingmultitasking, multithreading, distributed (e.g., cluster, peer-peer,cloud, etc.) processing where appropriate, or other such techniques.Accordingly, each engine may be realized in a variety of suitableconfigurations, and should generally not be limited to any particularimplementation exemplified herein, unless such limitations are expresslycalled out.

In addition, an engine may itself be composed of more than onesub-engine, each of which may be regarded as an engine in its own right.Moreover, in the embodiments described herein, each of the variousengines corresponds to a defined functionality; however, it should beunderstood that in other contemplated embodiments, each functionalitymay be distributed to more than one engine. Likewise, in othercontemplated embodiments, multiple defined functionalities may beimplemented by a single engine that performs those multiple functions,possibly alongside other functions, or distributed differently among aset of engines than specifically illustrated in the examples herein.

As used herein, the term “model” encompasses its plain and ordinarymeaning. A model may include, among other things, one or more engineswhich receive an input and compute an output based on the input. Theoutput may be a classification. For example, an image file may beclassified as depicting a cat or not depicting a cat. Alternatively, theimage file may be assigned a numeric score indicating a likelihoodwhether the image file depicts the cat, and image files with a scoreexceeding a threshold (e.g., 0.9 or 0.95) may be determined to depictthe cat.

This document may reference a specific number of things (e.g., “sixmobile devices”). Unless explicitly set forth otherwise, the numbersprovided are examples only and may be replaced with any positiveinteger, integer or real number, as would make sense for a givensituation. For example, “six mobile devices” may, in alternativeembodiments, include any positive integer number of mobile devices.Unless otherwise mentioned, an object referred to in singular form(e.g., “a computer” or “the computer”) may include one or multipleobjects (e.g., “the computer” may refer to one or multiple computers).

FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit block diagram of a computing machine 100 inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, components of thecomputing machine 100 may store or be integrated into other componentsshown in the circuit block diagram of FIG. 1 . For example, portions ofthe computing machine 100 may reside in the processor 102 and may bereferred to as “processing circuitry.” Processing circuitry may includeprocessing hardware, for example, one or more central processing units(CPUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), and the like. Inalternative embodiments, the computing machine 100 may operate as astandalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othercomputers. In a networked deployment, the computing machine 100 mayoperate in the capacity of a server, a client, or both in server-clientnetwork environments. In an example, the computing machine 100 may actas a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) networkenvironment. In this document, the phrases P2P, device-to-device (D2D)and sidelink may be used interchangeably. The computing machine 100 maybe a specialized computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart phone, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules and componentsare tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specifiedoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In anexample, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect toexternal entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as amodule. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computersystems/apparatus (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system)or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware orsoftware (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application)as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In anexample, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In anexample, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of themodule, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” (and “component”) is understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily(e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in aspecified manner or to perform part or all of any operation describedherein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarilyconfigured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any onemoment in time. For example, where the modules comprise ageneral-purpose hardware processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respectivedifferent modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module atone instance of time and to constitute a different module at a differentinstance of time.

As used herein, the term “application” encompasses its plain andordinary meaning. An application may include software stored at acomputing machine and executing on that computing machine. Anapplication may include software that executes on a computing machinebut is stored remotely or in the cloud. An application may include awebsite that includes software, stored at a server or in the cloud, forexecuting at a computing machine. In some cases, rather than beingstored in software, an application may be hard-wired into a computingmachine or into remote server(s).

The computing machine 100 may include a hardware processor 102 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a GPU, a hardware processor core, or anycombination thereof), a main memory 104 and a static memory 106, some orall of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g.,bus) 108. Although not shown, the main memory 104 may contain any or allof removable storage and non-removable storage, volatile memory ornon-volatile memory. The computing machine 100 may further include avideo display unit 110 (or other display unit), an alphanumeric inputdevice 112 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigationdevice 114 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 110, inputdevice 112 and UI navigation device 114 may be a touch screen display.The computing machine 100 may additionally include a storage device(e.g., drive unit) 116, a signal generation device 118 (e.g., aspeaker), a network interface device 120, and one or more sensors 121,such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass,accelerometer, or other sensor. The computing machine 100 may include anoutput controller 128, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus(USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), nearfield communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or controlone or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

The drive unit 116 (e.g., a storage device) may include a machinereadable medium 122 on which is stored one or more sets of datastructures or instructions 124 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized byany one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. Theinstructions 124 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 104, within static memory 106, or within thehardware processor 102 during execution thereof by the computing machine100. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor102, the main memory 104, the static memory 106, or the storage device116 may constitute machine readable media.

While the machine readable medium 122 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 124.

The term “machine readable medium” may include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe computing machine 100 and that cause the computing machine 100 toperform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, orthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used byor associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine readablemedium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical andmagnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include:non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g.,Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM andDVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may includenon-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machinereadable media may include machine readable media that is not atransitory propagating signal.

The instructions 124 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 126 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 120 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 120may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 126.

A user of a computer, such as an employee of a business, may use thesame computer for business and personal use. The computer may storebusiness applications or files that the business may wish to subject toits security policy, and personal applications or files that the userdoes not wish to share with the business. Alternatively, a user of anon-business computer may wish to segregate applications or files usedfor certain purposes (e.g., investment management, family purposes,dating, and the like) for different treatment with respect to a securitypolicy. As the foregoing illustrates, techniques for providing a securecomputing environment for a mixed use computer may be desirable.

As used herein, the phrase “mixed use computer” (or, alternatively,mixed use computing machine, mixed use computing device, and the like)encompasses its plain and ordinary meaning. A mixed use computer maystore computing resources (e.g., applications, files, cloud file storageaccess, emails, videos, photos, and the like), some of which areassociated with a security policy and others of which are not. Forexample, a user might use a computer for both personal and business use.The computer may store, in the same user profile (e.g., user accountassociated with a login identifier and, in some cases, a password foraccessing resources at the computer), business computing resources(e.g., patent applications, office action responses, client pitches, andbusiness email messages that the user uses for business purposes) andpersonal computing resources (e.g., personal email messages, personalletters, photographs, and videos). The business may wish to enforce abusiness security and tracking policy for the business computingresources, while foregoing applying the business security policy andassuring the user's privacy in the personal computing resources.Alternatively, this invention may be used to separate any types ofcomputing resources for which the security policy does/does not apply,not necessarily business/personal computing resources.

As discussed above, a mixed use computer may store both personal andbusiness computing resources (e.g., applications or files). Informingthe user which computing resources are (or are not) subject to asecurity policy and/or tracking may be desirable.

As used herein, the phrase “security policy” encompasses its plain andordinary meaning. A security policy defines authorized and unauthorizedactions with respect to a set of computing resources (e.g., businesscomputing resources or each and every computing resource at thecomputing machine), and prevents a computing machine from takingunauthorized actions. A security policy may include various accesspermissions (e.g., by antivirus or other software) and computingresource sharing permissions. The security policy may require thatcertain actions (e.g., entering a password, verifying user identity byfingerprint or facial scan, and the like) be taken before accessing acomputing resource covered by the security policy or before sharing(e.g., via a messaging service) the computing resource covered by thesecurity policy.

In some cases, the security policy may include a tracking policy or amonitoring policy. For example, the tracking policy or the monitoringpolicy may allow a supervisor (e.g., at a remote computing machine) tomonitor activity of the user of the computing machine with respect tothe computing resources covered by the tracking policy or the monitoringpolicy. The tracking policy or the monitoring policy may store recordsof the activity of the user of the computing machine with respect to thecomputing resources at a server or a data repository that is accessibleto the supervisor.

Computing resources that are covered and not covered by the securitypolicy (e.g., business and personal resources) may be segregated indifferent ways. For example, computing resources that are covered by thesecurity policy may reside in different directories in the file systemfrom resources that are not covered by the security policy.Alternatively, computing resources having certain file types (e.g., filetypes associated with a word processor, such as .docx files) or havingbeen created by certain software may be covered by the security policy,while files having other file types (e.g., file types associated withphotographs, such as .jpg files) or having been created by othersoftware might not be covered by the security policy, regardless of thedirectory where the files reside.

A computing machine may have multiple security policies. For example, acomputing machine may have an antivirus security policy for each andevery computing resource on the computing machine. The computing machinemay also have a business computing resource security policy, whichapplies certain rules to business computing resources but not othercomputing resources.

A computing resource may include, for example, a file, an application, anetwork interface overlay (e.g., a network tunnel), a window or thelike. A computing resource may be stored in a memory of a computingmachine.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system 200 in which a mixed used computingmachine may be used. As shown, the system 200 includes a computingmachine 202 and a tracking service 210. As shown, the computing machine202 is a laptop computer. However, in alternative embodiments, thecomputing machine 202 may be any computing machine that includesprocessing circuitry and memory, for example, a desktop computer, amobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), and the like. The computing machine 202 may include allor a portion of the components of the computing machine 100. As shown,the tracking service 210 is a cloud service. The tracking service 210may include one or more of a cloud-based tracking service, one or moreservers, an administrator computing device associated with a securitypolicy enforced at the computing machine 202, and the like.

The computing machine 202 may store multiple personal computingresources and multiple business computing resources. Some of thoseresources, for example, personal computing resource 208 and businesscomputing resource 204, may be displayed via a display unit (e.g.,screen or monitor) of the computing machine 202. Both the businesscomputing resource 204 and the personal computing resource 208 may bedisplayed via a native computing environment of the computing machine202, rather than by accessing a remote virtual machine or physicalmachine.

The personal computing resources and the business computing resourcesmay be segregated in different ways. In some embodiments, personalcomputing resources and business computing resources reside in specifiedpredefined locations of a file system. For example, certain directoriesmay be associated with business computing resources and certain otherdirectories may be associated with personal computing resources. In someembodiments, the personal computing resources are associated withpersonal filetypes (e.g. .jpg or .mp3) while the business computingresources are associated with business filetypes (e.g., .doc or .xls).In some embodiments, the personal computing resources are generated bycertain applications (e.g., a camera application) while the businesscomputing resources are generated by certain other applications (e.g., aword processor, a spreadsheet program, or a slide presentation program).

As used herein, the phrase “native computing environment” encompassesits plain and ordinary meaning. A computing resource (e.g., anapplication, a file or a window) runs in a native computing environmentif it is run directly in an operating system (e.g., of a physicalcomputing machine storing the computing resource, without any externalsoftware layers and without requiring access to a virtual machine orvirtualization software or, alternatively, directly on a virtualmachine).

In some embodiments, a “supervised zone” (which could also be referredto as a “business zone” or “work zone”) may be defined within the nativecomputing environment of a computing machine. The supervised zone mayinclude computing resources residing in a portion of a filesystem of thecomputing machine or of a cloud storage unit. The supervised zone mayalso include network interface overlays (e.g., network tunnels) foraccessing the network. The supervised zone may include certainapplications. In some embodiments, a security policy may be applied tocomputing resources within the supervised zone but not to computingresources external to the supervised zone.

The computing machine 202 may store a security policy that applies tothe business computing resources but not to the personal computingresources. The security policy may limit screen capture of the businesscomputing resources, sharing of the business computing resources,copying data from the business computing resources, and the like. Thesecurity policy may also allow for tracking, by the tracking service210, of use of the business computing resources at the computing machine202. While enforcing the security policy, the tracking service 210 mightnot track the user of personal computing resources at the computingdevice.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the computing machine 202 displays, on a coupleddisplay unit, the business computing resource 204 and the personalcomputing resource 208. A visual indicator 206 adjacent to the businesscomputing resource 204 indicates that the business computing resource204 is subject to the security policy and to tracking by the trackingservice 210. The personal computing resource 208 lacks such a visualindicator because it is not subject to the security policy and to thetracking by the tracking service 210. As shown, the visual indicator 206is a border. However, in other embodiments, the visual indicator 206 mayinclude one or more of a border, a badge, and the like.

In some embodiments, the visual indicator 206 is a border. The bordermay occupy points outside the business computing resource 204 that arewithin a distance of n or fewer pixels from the business computingresource 204 (where n is a positive integer), unless those pixels areoccupied by other computing resources (e.g., windows) that are moredominant than the business computing resource 204 in a computingresource stack. The other computing resources may be more dominant, forexample, if they have been used more recently than the businesscomputing resource 204. This is illustrated, for example, in FIGS.4A-4B, and discussed in more detail below.

As discussed above, business computing resources are subject to thesecurity policy and the tracking. Personal computing resources are notsubject to the security policy and the tracking. However, in alternativeembodiments, computing resources different from personal/business may beused. For example, a parent might give a child a computing machine withsome resources (e.g., web browser, video player) that the parent wishesto track and/or manage and other resource (e.g., word processor, chessplaying application stored in memory) that the parent does not wish totrack and/or manage. Alternatively, an investor might wish to havehis/her financial advisor be able to track and/or manage resources(e.g., investment company website, investment company application) thatare used for investment management purposes but not other resources(e.g., other websites, applications or files).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process 300 associated withproviding a visual tracking indicator. In some implementations, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 3 may be performed by a computing machine(e.g., computing machine 100). In some implementations, one or moreprocess blocks of FIG. 3 may be performed by another device or a groupof devices separate from or including the computing machine.Additionally, or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 3 maybe performed by one or more components of computing machine 100, such asprocessor 102, main memory 104, static memory 106, network interfacedevice 120, video display 110, alpha-numeric input device 112, UInavigation device 114, drive unit 116, signal generation device 118, andoutput controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 3 , process 300 may include storing, at a computingmachine, multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy (block 310). For example, thecomputing machine may store multiple supervised computing resources andmultiple additional computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy, as describedabove.

As further shown in FIG. 3 , process 300 may include causing, via anative computing environment of the computing machine, a display unitcoupled with the computing machine to display simultaneously, all or aportion of a specified supervised computing resource and all or aportion of a specified additional computing resource (block 320). Forexample, the computing machine may cause, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display simultaneously, all or a portion of aspecified supervised computing resource and all or a portion of aspecified additional computing resource, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 3 , process 300 may include applying securityrules from the security policy to the specified supervised computingresource, wherein applying the security rules comprises at leastfacilitating tracking activity of the computing machine with respect tothe specified supervised computing resource (block 330). For example,the computing machine may apply security rules from the security policyto the specified supervised computing resource, wherein applying thesecurity rules comprises at least facilitating tracking activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified supervised computingresource, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 3 , process 300 may include forgoingfacilitating tracking activity of the computing machine with respect tothe specified additional computing resource and with respect to activityon the computing machine that is not associated with one or more of themultiple supervised computing resources (block 340). For example, thecomputing machine may forgo facilitating tracking activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified additional computingresource and with respect to activity on the computing machine that isnot associated with one or more of the multiple supervised computingresources, as described above.

Process 300 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, the additional computing resources comprisepersonal computing resources, wherein the supervised computing resourcescomprise business computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources and the multiple additional computing resourcescomprise files, cloud file storage access, applications or websites.Cloud file storage access may include access to a network-based filestorage system (e.g., OneDrive for Business® developed by MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond, Wash.).

In a second implementation, process 300 includes foregoing applyingsecurity rules from the security policy to the specified additionalcomputing resource.

In a third implementation, process 300 includes displaying, inassociation with the specified supervised computing resource, a visualindicator indicating that tracking is ongoing.

In a fourth implementation, the visual indicator comprises a badge or aborder adjacent to a region of the display unit occupied by thespecified supervised computing resource, the visual indicator isestablished upon launch of the supervised computing resource, and thevisual indicator is removed upon exit from the supervised computingresource or a log out by a user of the computing machine. For example,the user may access a webpage associated with his/her employer in a webbrowser. Upon login to an account via the webpage, the visual indicatormay appear around the web browser. At a later time, when the user logsout from the account via the webpage or closes the web browser, thevisual indicator may be removed.

In a fifth implementation, the activity of the computing machine withrespect to the specified supervised computing resource and the activityof the computing machine with respect to the specified additionalcomputing resource comprise network traffic.

In a sixth implementation, the activity of the computing machine withrespect to the specified supervised computing resource and the activityof the computing machine with respect to the specified additionalcomputing resource comprise internet browsing.

In a seventh implementation, the activity of the computing machine withrespect to the specified supervised computing resource and the activityof the computing machine with respect to the specified additionalcomputing resource comprise camera or microphone input activity.

In an eighth implementation, process 300 includes storing informationtransmitted from the computing machine to the tracking service, andproviding for display, in response to a user request, of a visualrepresentation of the information transmitted from the computing machineto the tracking service.

In a ninth implementation, the tracking service comprises one or more ofa cloud-based tracking service, one or more servers, and anadministrator computing device associated with the security policy.

In a tenth implementation, the security rules comprise one or more rulesblocking a set of operations from the specified supervised computingresource to the specified additional computing resource, and the set ofoperations comprises at least one of a drag and drop operation, a copyand paste operation, a cut and paste operation, a key log operation, afile download operation, a file upload operation, a file attachmentoperation, a printing operation, an opening a specific websiteoperation, an opening a category of website operation, an applicationlaunching operation or a screenshot operation. In other words, thesecurity rules may prevent certain operations from the specifiedsupervised computing resource to the specified additional computingresource. For example, the user may be unable to drag and drop, copy andpaste, or cut and paste content from the specified supervised computingresource to the specified additional computing resource. The user may beunable to implement key logging within the specified supervisedcomputing resource and access the logged keys from the specifiedadditional computing resource. The user may be unable to take ascreenshot of the specified supervised computing resource and place thatscreenshot into the specified additional computing resource (or view thescreenshot via the specified additional computing resource).

In one example use case, a user has open, on her desktop computer, awork file (a word processing document comprising a draft real estatepurchase contract for a client) and a personal file (a word processingdocument comprising a letter to the user's grandmother). The real estatepurchase contract is surrounded by a green border and has an ellipticalbadge indicating that it is a work file that is a supervised computingresource. The letter to the grandmother is not surrounded by such aborder. The user attempts to copy text from one part of the draft realestate purchase contract into another part of the draft real estatepurchase contract and is able to do so. The user then opens the letterto the grandmother and presses a shortcut key for pasting (e.g.,CTRL+V). However, the text from the draft real estate purchase contractis not pasted into the letter to the grandmother due to the blocking ofsuch pasting by the security rules in the security policy. According tosome implementations, the security policy communicates with the driverof the desktop computer, which enforces the security rules to block thepasting of the text from the draft real estate purchase contract intothe letter to the grandmother because the draft real estate purchasecontract is a supervised computing resource and the letter to thegrandmother is not a supervised computing resource. Similar techniquesmay be used to prevent other operations from supervised computingresource(s) to additional (unsupervised) computing resource(s).

Although FIG. 3 shows example blocks of process 300, in someimplementations, process 300 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 3 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 300 may be performed in parallel.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate example screens 400A and 400B visually indicatingtracked (e.g., by a security policy) and untracked resources. While thescreens 400A and 400B are shown, it should be noted that other displaydevices or display units (e.g., projectors, monitors, and the like) maybe used in place of screens.

As shown in FIG. 4A, screen 400A displays a business computing resource402A and a personal computing resource 404A. The business computingresource 402A is tracked, based on a security policy of the associatedbusiness, while the personal computing resource 404A is not tracked andis not covered by the security policy. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, thebusiness computing resource 402A is the dominant computing resource(e.g., because it was the last selected computing resource) andpartially occludes the personal computing resource 404A. As shown, thebusiness computing resource 402A is surrounded by a border 406A and hasan adjacent badge 408A.

As shown in FIG. 4B, similarly to FIG. 4A, screen 400B displays abusiness computing resource 402B and a personal computing resource 404B.However, in screen 400B, the personal computing resource 404B is thedominant computing resource (e.g., because it was the last selectedcomputing resource) and partially occludes the business computingresource 402B. As shown, the business computing resource 402B issurrounded by a border 406B and has an adjacent badge 408B.

Computing resources (e.g., windows) that are open at the computingmachine may be arranged from most dominant to least dominant in adominance stack (e.g., the last selected computing resource is the mostdominant and is at the top of the stack, the second to last selectedcomputing resource is the second most dominant and is in the secondposition from the top of the stack, etc., in a last-in-first-out datastructure). The border 406A/406B and/or the badge 408A/408B may have thesame position in the dominance stack as the business computing resource402A/402B. Thus, when the business computing resource 402A overlays thepersonal computing resource 404A (e.g., the business computing resource402A is closer to the top of the stack as the business computingresource 402A was more recently selected), the border 406A or the badge408A may also overlay the personal computing resource 404A, as shown inFIG. 4A. When the personal computing resource 404B overlays the businesscomputing resource 402B (e.g., the personal computing resource 404B iscloser to the top of the stack as the personal computing resource 404Bwas more recently selected), the personal computing resource 404B mayalso overlay the border 406B or the badge 408B, as shown in FIG. 4B.

The business computing resource 402A/402B and the personal computingresource 404A/404B may both be associated with a native computingenvironment of a computing machine associated with the screen 400A/400B.

The border 406A/406B and/or the badge 408A/408B indicate that thesecurity policy is applicable to the business computing resource402A/402B. As the personal computing resource 404A/404B lacks a borderand/or a badge, a viewer of the screen 400A/400B may visually determinethat the security policy is not applicable to the personal computingresource 404A/404B.

In screen 400A, the border 406A occludes the personal computing resource404B because the business computing resource 402A is more dominant(e.g., in a stack of computing resources, e.g., windows in someMicrosoft® operating systems) than the personal computing resource 404B.However, in screen 400B, the personal computing resource 404B occludesthe border 406B because the personal computing resource 404B is moredominant (e.g., in a stack of computing resources, e.g., windows in someMicrosoft® operating systems) than the business computing resource 402B.

The business computing resource 402A is subject to a security policy(e.g., associated with the business), while the personal computingresource 404A/404B is not subject to the security policy. For example,the business may be a law firm and the business computing resource maybe a contract being drafted by an attorney at the law firm. The personalcomputing resource may be a personal photograph of the attorney'sfamily. The border 406A/406B identifies computing resources that aresubject to the security policy. As a result, a user of the screen400A/400B can quickly identify which displayed computing resources areand are not subject to the security policy.

The badge 408A/408B, when selected (e.g., by a mouse click or a touch ofa touchscreen or, alternatively, by clicking a mouse while a cursor ispositioned over the badge 408A/408B) displays information about thesecurity policy (e.g., which actions the user of the screen 400A/400B isor is not permitted to do with respect to the business computingresource 402A/402B).

In some embodiments, the border 406A/406B occupies pixels that areexternal to the business computing resource 402A/402B, within athreshold distance (e.g., n pixels, where n is a positive integer) froman edge of the business computing resource 402A/402B, and not occupiedby the badge 408A/408B.

In some embodiments, the business computing resource 402A/402B and thepersonal computing resource 404A/404B that are displayed on the screen400A/400B are each associated with a display priority value (e.g., basedon a time when the displayed computing resource was last selected). Theborder 406A/406B comprises pixels that are not occupied by a computingresource that has a higher priority value than the business computingresource 402A/402B (e.g., that was selected after a last selection timeof the specified supervised computing resource). For example, in screen400A, the business computing resource 402A has a higher priority valuethan the personal computing resource 404A. As a result, the border 406Aoverlays the personal computing resource 404A. In contrast, in thescreen 400B, the business computing resource 402B has a lower priorityvalue than the personal computing resource 404B. As a result, thepersonal computing resource 404B overlays the border 406B.

In some embodiments, the business computing resource 402A may be draggedalong the screen 400A. (For example, a user may select a title bar ofthe business computing resource 402A with a mouse and move the mousealong the screen 400A. Alternatively, if the screen 400A is a touchscreen, the user may select the title bar using a finger or a stylus onthe touch screen 400A, and move the finger or the stylus along the touchscreen 400A.) Processing circuitry in a computing machine associatedwith the screen 400A may recalculate a position of the border 406Aand/or the badge 408A in a discrete manner once every n milliseconds orbased on operating system window events, where n is a predeterminedpositive number. As a result, the processing circuitry (e.g., thecentral processing unit or the graphics processing unit) might notbecome overburdened with border 406A and/or badge 408A positioncalculations every time the business computing resource 402A is dragged.

In conjunction with FIGS. 4A-4B, some embodiments are described withbusiness computing resources being subject to the security policy andpersonal computing resources not being subject to the security policy.However, any predefined computing resources may replace the businesscomputing resources that are subject to the security policy and thepersonal computing resources that are not subject to the securitypolicy.

For example, a parent might show movies to a child from the parent'smovie-watching computing device using screensharing techniques, withmovies appropriate for children under age 13 not having the securitypolicy applied (as the personal computing resources above), and movieappropriate for children ages 13-17 having the security policy applied(as the business computing resources above). Using the techniquesdisclosed herein, the parent may be able to show the child G ratedmovies appropriate for children under age 13 without interference by thesecurity policy. When the parent wishes to show the child PG-13 ratedmovies appropriate for children ages 13-17, the security policy mayapply. The security policy may, for example, prevent the showing of thePG-13 movies, notify the other parent when PG-13 rated movies are shown,require the parent to take an additional affirmative step (e.g., typinga password or a reason for showing the PG-13 movie into a pop-up window)to show the PG-13 movies.

As described above, the border 406A/406B and the badge 408A/408Bindicate that a resource associated with the border 406A/406B and thebadge 408A/408B is covered by the security policy. However, the border406A/406B and the badge 408A/408B may be used to segregate otherresources. For example, the border 406A/406B and the badge 408A/408B maybe used to segregate business computing resources and personal computingresources where no security policy is applied to both the businesscomputing resources and the personal computing resources. The computingmachine displaying the screens 400A/400B may identify a given computingresource as being a personal computing resource or a business computingresource based on at least one of: a location of the computing resourcein a directory of file system, a cloud storage location, an applicationassociated with the computing resource, a file type of the computingresource, or a source (e.g., email, browser, network-based storage, andthe like) of the computing resource.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process associated with visuallyindicating tracked resources. In some implementations, one or moreprocess blocks of FIG. 5 may be performed by a computing machine (e.g.,computing machine 100). In some implementations, one or more processblocks of FIG. 5 may be performed by another device or a group ofdevices separate from or including the computing machine. Additionally,or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 5 may be performedby one or more components of computing machine 100, such as processor102, main memory 104, static memory 106, network interface device 120,video display 110, alpha-numeric input device 112, UI navigation device114, drive unit 116, signal generation device 118, and output controller128.

As shown in FIG. 5 , process 500 may include storing, at a computingmachine, multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy (block 510). For example, thecomputing machine may store multiple supervised computing resources andmultiple additional computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy, as describedabove.

As further shown in FIG. 5 , process 500 may include causing, via anative computing environment of the computing machine, a display unitcoupled with the computing machine to display, at a first displayposition, all or a portion of a specified supervised computing resourcefrom among the multiple supervised computing resources (block 520). Forexample, the computing machine may cause, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display, at a first display position, all or aportion of a specified supervised computing resource from among themultiple supervised computing resources, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 5 , process 500 may include causing the displayunit to display, at a display position calculated based on the firstdisplay position, a visual indicator that the specified supervisedcomputing resource is associated with the security policy (block 530).For example, the computing machine may cause the display unit todisplay, at a display position calculated based on the first displayposition, a visual indicator that the specified supervised computingresource is associated with the security policy, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 5 , process 500 may include applying securityrules from the security policy to the specified supervised computingresource (block 540). For example, the computing machine may applysecurity rules from the security policy to the specified supervisedcomputing resource, as described above.

Process 500 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

According to some embodiments, an additional computing resource may alsobe displayed at the display unit. The additional display unit may lackthe visual indicator. As a result, a user of the computing machine,while viewing the display unit, may be able to easily determine whichcomputing resources are (or are not) associated with the securitypolicy.

In a first implementation, the additional computing resources comprisepersonal computing resources, wherein the supervised computing resourcescomprise business computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources and the multiple additional computing resourcescomprise files, cloud file storage access, applications or websites.

In a second implementation, the additional computing resources comprisecomputing resources of a first type, wherein the supervised computingresources comprise computing resources of a second type for which anentity (e.g., a user or an organization) desires enhanced security,wherein the multiple supervised computing resources and the multipleadditional computing resources comprise files, cloud file storageaccess, applications or websites.

In a third implementation, the visual indicator comprises a badgeproximate to an edge of the first display position, the badge indicatingthat the security policy is applicable to the specified supervisedcomputing resource.

In a fourth implementation, process 500 includes receiving a signalrepresenting a user selection of the badge, and causing, in response tothe user selection of the badge, the display unit to display informationabout the security policy applicable to the computing machine.

In a fifth implementation, the visual indicator comprises a border,wherein the border comprises pixels that are external to the firstdisplay position, within a threshold distance from an edge of the firstdisplay position, and not occupied by a badge associated with the visualindicator.

In a sixth implementation, multiple computing resources are displayed onthe display unit, wherein each displayed computing resource isassociated with a display priority value based on a time when thedisplayed computing resource was last selected, wherein the bordercomprises pixels that are not occupied by a computing resource that wasselected after a last selection time of the specified supervisedcomputing resource.

In a seventh implementation, process 500 includes receiving, atprocessing circuitry of the computing machine, a signal representingdragging the specified supervised computing resource along the displayunit, recalculating, using the processing circuitry, a position of theborder in a discrete manner once every n milliseconds or based onoperating system window events, wherein n is a predetermined positivenumber.

In an eighth implementation, process 500 includes generating a pop-up oran on-display alert by the specified supervised computing resource, andcausing display of the border around the pop-up or the on-display alert.

In a ninth implementation, process 500 includes receiving, at thecomputing machine, a user request to perform an action that violates asecurity rule, and permitting, based on a setting stored in conjunctionwith the security policy and provided by an administrator of thesecurity policy, the user to perform the action that violates thesecurity rule in response to an additional affirmative act by the userconfirming that the user wishes to perform the action.

In a tenth implementation, process 500 includes causing, via the nativecomputing environment of the computing machine, the display unit todisplay, at a second display position, all or a portion of a specifiedadditional computing resource from among the multiple additionalcomputing resources, foregoing causing the display unit to display, inassociation with the specified additional computing resource, the visualindicator, and foregoing applying security rules from the securitypolicy to the specified additional computing resource.

In an eleventh implementation, process 500 includes causing, via anative computing environment of the computing machine, the display unitcoupled with the computing machine to display, at a predefined displayposition, indicia of multiple computing resources open on the computingdevice, wherein indicia of supervised computing resources are coupledwith a visual symbol indicating that the supervised computing resourcesare associated with the security policy.

In a twelfth implementation, indicia of additional computing resourcesare not coupled with the visual symbol.

In a thirteenth implementation, the displayed indicia of the multiplecomputing resources comprise a task bar or a dock.

Although FIG. 5 shows example blocks of process 500, in someimplementations, process 500 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 5 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 500 may be performed in parallel.

In some embodiments, multiple computing resources (e.g., windows orfiles) associated with the same application may be open simultaneously.For example, a user of a computing machine that has a single wordprocessor application (e.g., Microsoft Word® or Apache OpenOfficeWriter®) may have two word processor files open simultaneously—a patentapplication document associated with a business security policy (or anyother security policy) and a personal letter document not associatedwith the business security policy. (For example, the patent applicationdocument may reside within a business directory of the filesystem, whilethe personal letter document may reside within a personal directory ofthe filesystem.) The patent application document may be coupled with avisual indicator (e.g., border or badge) while the personal letterdocument might not be coupled with the visual indicator. Thus, the usermay be able to easily determine which security settings apply to theresources that he/she has open on the computing machine. Typically, acomputing machine runs a single instance of the application. To createseparate instance of the same application, some embodiments force thecomputing machine to emulate all operating system processes andoperating system resources (e.g., global objects, remote procedurecalls, and the like) associated with the application separately forpersonal resources and for business resources. This is illustrated, forexample, in FIG. 10 , with an emulated registry and emulated globalobjects being used instead of the native computing environment's defaultregistry and global objects within the work zone.

In some embodiments, business computing resources and personal computingresources (or other computing resources that are covered/not covered bythe security policy) may be visually segregated (as well as beingsegregated in a filesystem, according to some implementations). Forexample, a display unit coupled with the computing machine may display abusiness visual container (e.g., a box on the screen) from whichbusiness computing resources may be accessed. Personal computingresources may be displayed outside the business visual container, or maybe accessed via the start menu, file explorer, and the like. Inaddition, some business computing resource may, in some cases, also beaccessible via the start menu, file explorer, and the like. This may bedone by emulating several subsystems that are meant to be shared by alluser mode applications. By creating emulation subsystems at that areundocumented at the kernel and user mode levels, as well as keeping upwith the compatibility of years of different operating system (e.g.,Microsoft Windows®) applications, the business computing resources aresegregated from the personal computing resources while preserving theuser experience that is familiar when interacting with native operatingsystem concepts (i.e., opening a file by double clicking a mouse as thecursor is hovering over an icon associated with the file). In someembodiments, the operations described here are performed in a real timemanner without impacting performance of the applications and userexperience, as well as the security of the applications and operatingsystem.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system 600 in which operations may berestricted based on a security policy, in accordance with someembodiments. The system 600 may include all or a portion of thecomponents of the computing machine 100 of FIG. 1 .

As shown, the system 600 stores a security policy 602, which includessecurity rules 604. The security policy is applicable to the supervisedresource 614 (and other supervised resources), but not to theunsupervised resource 616 (and other unsupervised resources). Each ofthe supervised resource 614 and the unsupervised resource 616 is acomputing resource. The supervised resource 614 and/or the unsupervisedresource 616 may be a file and/or an application. The security policy602 may be enforced using a security policy enforcement engine 610. Asillustrated in FIG. 6 , the system includes operating system (OS)resources 612. The OS resources 612 may include a controller (e.g., adriver) associated with an input device or an output device coupled tothe system 600. The OS resources 612 may be drivers or other hardwarecontrollers, for example, a keyboard driver, a mouse driver, atouchscreen driver, a display driver, and the like. The OS resources maybe computing resources.

FIG. 6 illustrates processing of operation requests 606 and 608. Asshown, the operation request 608 is associated with the unsupervisedresource 616, but not with any supervised resource 614. The operationrequest 608 is provided directly to the OS resource 612 and/or theunsupervised resource 616.

The operation request 606 is associated with the supervised resource 614(and, in some cases, also the unsupervised resource 616). Based on theoperation request 606 being associated with the supervised resource 614,the operation request 606 is intercepted by the security policyenforcement engine 610 and modified prior to provision to the OSresource 612 and/or the supervised resource 614 (and, in some cases, theunsupervised resource 616). For example, as described in more detail inconjunction with FIG. 8 , if the operation request 606 is for a screencapture (e.g., screenshare or screenshot) operation, the security policyenforcement engine 610 may cause parts of the screen associated with thesupervised resource 614 to be occluded and/or watermarked within thescreen captured image.

In some embodiments, the supervised resources, including the supervisedresource 614, are business resources. The unsupervised resources,including unsupervised resource 616, are personal computing resources.The supervised resources and/or the unsupervised resources include filesand/or applications. The security rules 604 from the security policy 602are applied to the multiple supervised resources and are not applied tothe multiple unsupervised resources.

The supervised resources may map to certain file types, file sources, ordirectories within a file system. The unsupervised resources may includeresources that do not map to those file types, fie sources ordirectories within the file system. The security policy 602 may includesecurity rules 604 preventing the system 600 from taking certain actionswith respect to the supervised resources (e.g., supervised resourcesmight not be able to be copied in a screen capture operation withoutfirst receiving affirmative approval (e.g., via a pop-up window) from auser of the system 600).

The system 600 receives a signal representing an operation request 606or 608. The signal may be received via input devices of the system 600,for example, via a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen. Alternatively, thesignal may be received over a network.

The system 600 determines, based on an active computing resource andother computing resources open at the computing machine when the signalis received, whether the specified operation is associated with thesupervised computing resource 614 from among the multiple supervisedcomputing resources. If not, the operation request 608 is provided tothe OS resource 612 and/or the unsupervised resource 616 withoutaccessing the security policy enforcement engine 610.

In response to determining that the specified operation 606 isassociated with the supervised computing resource 614, the system 600provides the request for the specified operation 606 to the securitypolicy enforcement engine 610. The security policy enforcement engine610 intercepts the request. The security policy enforcement engine 610adjusts, based on security rules 604 in the security policy 602, theoperation request 606 or a state of the supervised resource 614 prior toproviding the request to the OS resource 612 and/or the supervisedresource 614.

In some cases, the operation request 606 is associated with both thesupervised resource 614 and the unsupervised resource 616. The system600 provides the request to the OS resource 612, the supervised resource614, and the unsupervised resource 616 after adjusting the operationrequest 606 or the state of the one or more of the multiple supervisedresources, including the supervised resource 614.

In some embodiments, the operation request 606 is for a copy operation.The active computing resource at the system 600 is the supervisedresource 614. The security policy enforcement engine 610, based on thesecurity rules 604 in the security policy 602, causes data copied by thecopy operation to be intercepted. The intercepted data is accessible viathe multiple supervised computing resources but not accessible via themultiple unsupervised computing resources.

In response to a subsequent paste operation, the system 600 grantsaccess to the intercepted data to respond to the paste operation requestif the paste operation request is associated with one of the multiplesupervised computing resources. The system 600 denies access to theintercepted data to respond to the paste operation request if the pasteoperation request is not associated with any one of the multiplesupervised computing resources.

In some embodiments, the operation request 606 is for a keyboard input.The active computing resource is supervised resource 614. The securitypolicy enforcement engine 610, based on the security rules 604 in thesecurity policy 602, blocks access, by unsupervised resources includingthe unsupervised resource 616, to the keyboard input provided to thesupervised resource 614.

In some embodiments, the operation request 606 is for a drag-and-dropoperation. The active computing resource, associated with initiation ofthe drag-and-drop operation, is the supervised resource 614. Thesecurity policy enforcement engine 610, based on the security rules 604in the security policy 602, causes data copied by the drag-and-dropoperation to be accessible via the multiple supervised computingresources but not accessible via the multiple unsupervised computingresources.

The drag-and-drop operation may terminate at a destination computingresource. The security policy enforcement engine 610 grants access torespond to the drag-and-drop operation request if the destinationcomputing resource is one of the multiple supervised resources. Thesecurity policy enforcement engine 610 denies access to respond to thedrag-and-drop operation request if the destination computing resource isnot one of the multiple supervised resources.

In some embodiments, the operation request 606 is for a screen capture(e.g., screenshot or screensharing) operation. The security policyenforcement engine 610, based on the security rules 604 in the securitypolicy 602, blocks or watermarks screen capture of screen regionsassociated with supervised resources while allowing screen capture ofscreen regions not associated with the supervised resources.Watermarking includes overlaying the screen regions associated with thecomputing resources with a representation of the security policy (e.g.,a logo of a business associated with the security policy.

For example, the security policy enforcement engine 610 determineswhether the supervised resource 614, for which screen capture is to beblocked, leverages graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware acceleration.If the supervised resource 614 leverages hardware acceleration, thesecurity policy enforcement engine 610 causes the GPU to occlude orwatermark a region associated with the supervised resource 614 on adisplay unit coupled to the system 600 during the screen captureoperation. If the supervised resource 614 does not leverage hardwareacceleration, the security policy enforcement engine 610 occludes orwatermarks a representation of the supervised resource 614 within anoutput of the screen capture operation. If the supervised resource 614does not leverage hardware acceleration, the security policy enforcementengine 610 foregoes occluding and forgoes watermarking the regionsassociated with the supervised resource 614 on the display unit.

As used herein, the phrase “hardware acceleration” may refer, amongother things, to a process by which application(s) may offload certaincomputing tasks onto specialized hardware components within a computersystem, enabling greater efficiency than is possible in software runningon a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) alone. For example,visualization processes may be offloaded onto a GPU in order to enablefaster, higher-quality playback of videos and games, while also freeingup the CPU to perform other tasks.

In some embodiments, some computing resources (e.g., computing resourcesin a downloads or email attachments directory) may be isolated (e.g., toprevent software in those computing resources from accessing othercomputing resources, such as the supervised resource 614 and theunsupervised resource 616, in the system 600). When an operation requestattempts to access an isolated computing resource, that operationrequest may be processed by the security policy enforcement engine 610prior to provision to the OS resource 612 and/or the isolated computingresource.

FIG. 7 illustrates a table 700 of operations that may be allowed orblocked by a security policy, in accordance with some embodiments. Asshown, the table 700 applies to copy/paste or drag-and-drop operations.As illustrated in FIG. 7 , when the source computing resource is asupervised computing resource and the destination computing resource isa supervised computing resource, the operation is allowed. When thesource computing resource is a supervised computing resource and thedestination computing resource is an unsupervised computing resource,the operation is blocked. When the source computing resource is anunsupervised computing resource and the destination computing resourceis a supervised computing resource, the operation is allowed. When thesource computing resource is an unsupervised computing resource and thedestination computing resource is an unsupervised computing resource,the operation is allowed.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example input and output of a screen captureoperation, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the input tothe screen capture operation is the screen 800. The screen 800 displaysa visual output from a supervised computing resource 802 and a visualoutput from an unsupervised computing resource 804. The screen captureoperation results in image 806. As shown, image 806 includes a block 810corresponding to the visual output from the unsupervised resource 804.Block 808 corresponds to the visual output from the supervised computingresource 802. As shown, block 808 is occluded or watermarked. In someembodiments, block 808 may include all or a portion of a company logo orother visual information that is distinct from the visual output fromthe supervised resource 802. In some embodiments, block 808 may includethe background of the screen, as though the supervised computingresource 802 was not open on the screen. As a result, the user may beprevented from taking a screenshot or screensharing data from supervisedresources. In some cases, the user may be able to override the occlusionor watermarking of the visual output from all or a portion of thesupervised resources.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example process 900 associated withoperation restriction based on security policy. In some implementations,one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed by a computingmachine (e.g., computing machine 100). In some implementations, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed by another device or agroup of devices separate from or including the computing machine.Additionally, or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 maybe performed by one or more components of computing machine 100, such asprocessor 102, main memory 104, static memory 106, network interfacedevice 120, video display 110, alpha-numeric input device 112, UInavigation device 114, drive unit 116, signal generation device 118, andoutput controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include storing, at a computingmachine, multiple supervised computing resources and multipleunsupervised computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy (block 910).For example, the computing machine may store, at a computing machine,multiple supervised computing resources and multiple unsupervisedcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include receiving, at thecomputing machine, a signal representing a request for a specifiedoperation (block 920). For example, the computing machine may receive,at the computing machine, a signal representing a request for aspecified operation, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include determining, basedon an active computing resource and other computing resources open atthe computing machine when the signal is received, whether the specifiedoperation is associated with a supervised computing resource from amongthe multiple supervised computing resources (block 930). For example,the computing machine may determine, based on an active computingresource and other computing resources open at the computing machinewhen the signal is received, whether the specified operation isassociated with a supervised computing resource from among the multiplesupervised computing resources, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include providing, inresponse to determining that the specified operation is associated withthe supervised computing resource, the request for the specifiedoperation to a security policy enforcement engine, wherein the securitypolicy enforcement engine intercepts the request (block 940). Forexample, the computing machine may provide, in response to determiningthat the specified operation is associated with the supervised computingresource, the request for the specified operation to a security policyenforcement engine, wherein the security policy enforcement engineintercepts the request, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include adjusting, usingthe security policy enforcement engine and based on security rules inthe security policy, the request for the specified operation or a stateof one or more of the multiple supervised computing resources prior toproviding the request to an operating system resource or to thesupervised computing resource (block 950). For example, the computingmachine may adjust, using the security policy enforcement engine andbased on security rules in the security policy, the request for thespecified operation or a state of one or more of the multiple supervisedcomputing resources prior to providing the request to an operatingsystem resource or to the supervised computing resource, as describedabove.

As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include providing therequest to the operating system resource or to the supervised computingresource (block 960). For example, the computing machine may provide therequest to the operating system resource or to the supervised computingresource, as described above.

Process 900 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, process 900 includes the supervised computingresources comprise organizational computing resources, the unsupervisedcomputing resources comprise personal computing resources, the multiplesupervised computing resources and the multiple unsupervised computingresources comprise files, cloud file storage access, applications orwebsites, and security rules from the security policy are applied to themultiple supervised computing resources and are not applied to themultiple unsupervised computing resources.

In a second implementation, process 900 includes foregoing adjusting therequest using the security policy enforcement engine in response todetermining that the specified operation is not associated with thesupervised computing resource. In some cases, process 900 may includeproviding, in response to determining that the specified operation isnot associated with the supervised computing resource, the requestdirectly to the operating system resource without accessing the securitypolicy enforcement engine.

In a third implementation, process 900 includes determining that thespecified operation is associated with the supervised computing resourceand an unsupervised computing resource, and providing, in response todetermining that the specified operation is associated with thesupervised computing resource and the unsupervised computing resource,the request to the device driver, the supervised computing resource, andthe unsupervised computing resource after adjusting, by the securitypolicy enforcement engine, the request for the specified operation orthe state of the one or more of the multiple supervised computingresources.

In a fourth implementation, the operating system resource comprises acontroller associated with an input device or an output device coupledto the computing machine.

In some implementations, the security rules comprise one or more rulesblocking a set of operations from the specified supervised computingresource to the specified additional computing resource. The set ofoperations comprises at least one of: a drag and drop operation, a copyand paste operation, a cut and paste operation, a key log operation, afile download operation, a file upload operation, a file attachmentoperation, a printing operation, an opening a specific websiteoperation, opening a category of website operation, an applicationlaunching operation or a screenshot operation.

In a fifth implementation, process 900 includes the specified operationcomprises a copy operation, the active computing resource is thesupervised computing resource, the security policy enforcement engine,based on the security rules in the security policy, causes data copiedby the copy operation to be intercepted, and the intercepted data isaccessible via the multiple supervised computing resources but notaccessible via the multiple unsupervised computing resources.

In a sixth implementation, process 900 includes granting, based on thesecurity rules in the security policy and in response to a pasteoperation request subsequent to the copy operation, access to theintercepted data to respond to the paste operation request if the pasteoperation request is associated with one of the multiple supervisedcomputing resources (e.g., in response to determining that the pasteoperation is associated with one of the multiple supervised computingresources), and/or denying access to the intercepted data to respond tothe paste operation request if the paste operation request is notassociated with any one of the multiple supervised computing resources(e.g., in response to determining that the paste operation request isnot associated with any one of the multiple supervised computingresources).

In a seventh implementation, process 900 includes the specifiedoperation comprises a keyboard input, the active computing resource isthe supervised computing resource, and the security policy enforcementengine, based on the security rules in the security policy, blocksaccess, by the unsupervised computing resources, to the keyboard inputprovided to the supervised computing resource.

In an eighth implementation, process 900 includes the specifiedoperation comprises a drag-and-drop operation, the active computingresource, associated with initiation of the drag-and-drop operation, isthe supervised computing resource, and the security policy enforcementengine, based on the security rules in the security policy, causes datacopied by the drag-and-drop operation to be accessible via the multiplesupervised computing resources but not accessible via the multipleunsupervised computing resources.

In a ninth implementation, the drag-and-drop operation terminates at adestination computing resource, the method further comprising grantingaccess to respond to the drag-and-drop operation request if thedestination computing resource is one of the multiple supervisedcomputing resources (e.g., in response to determining that thedestination computing resource is one of the multiple supervisedcomputing resources), and/or denying access to respond to thedrag-and-drop operation request if the destination computing resource isnot one of the multiple supervised computing resources (e.g., inresponse to determining that the destination computing resource is notone of the multiple supervised computing resources).

In a tenth implementation, process 900 includes the specified operationcomprises a screen capture operation, the security policy enforcementengine, based on the security rules in the security policy, blocks orwatermarks screen capture of screen regions associated with supervisedcomputing resources while allowing screen capture of screen regions notassociated with the supervised computing resources, and watermarkingcomprises overlaying the screen regions associated with the computingresources with a representation of the security policy.

In an eleventh implementation, the screen capture operation comprises ascreenshot operation or a screensharing operation.

In a twelfth implementation, process 900 includes determining whether agiven supervised computing resource, for which screen capture is to beblocked, leverages graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware acceleration.If the given supervised computing resource leverages GPU hardwareacceleration (in response to determining that the given supervisedcomputing resource leverages GPU hardware acceleration): process 900includes causing, by the security policy enforcement engine, the GPU toocclude or watermark a region associated with the given supervisedcomputing resource on a display unit coupled to the computing machineduring the screen capture operation. If the given supervised computingresource does not leverage GPU hardware acceleration (in response todetermining that the given supervised computing resource does notleverage GPU hardware acceleration): process 900 includes occluding orwatermarking a representation of the given supervised computing resourcewithin an output of the screen capture operation; and forgoing occludingand forgoing watermarking the region associated with the givensupervised computing resource on the display unit coupled to thecomputing machine.

Although FIG. 9 shows example blocks of process 900, in someimplementations, process 900 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 9 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 900 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a computing machine 1000 with a work zone1004 within a native computing environment 1002, in accordance with someembodiments. As shown, the computing machine 1000 includes the nativecomputing environment 1002. A portion of the native computingenvironment 1002 is the work zone 1004. As shown, the work zone 1004 isassociated with a security policy 1016. The security policy applies tocomputing resources within the work zone 1004, but not to computingresources outside the work zone 1004. The work zone 1004 also includes awork network interface engine 1018. The work network interface engine1018 processes network access requests associated with the work zone1004 via a separate tunnel and/or a separate Internet Protocol (IP)address based on the security policy 1016. The work network interfaceengine 1018 may provide a VPN for computing resources within the workzone 1004 to use in order access the Internet. Computing resourcesoutside the work zone 1004 might not use the VPN of the work networkinterface engine 1018.

As shown, the native computing environment 1002, outside the work zone1004, includes applications, such as the illustrated word processor app1006.1 and spreadsheet app 1008.1. When these applications are executedfrom the work zone 1004, separate instances of the applications, such asthe word processor app 1006.2 and the spreadsheet app 1008.2 arecreated. The activities of the computing machine 1000 (e.g., the user'sactivities) in the word processor app 1006.2 and the spreadsheet app1008.2 are supervised by the security policy 1016. However, theactivities of the computing machine in the word processor app 1006.1 andthe spreadsheet app 1008.1 are not supervised by the security policy1016.

As shown, the native computing environment 1002 includes personalfiles/folders 1010.1 and work files/folders 1010.2. The workfiles/folder 1010.2 reside in the work zone 1004 and are supervised bythe security policy 1016. The personal files/folders 1010.1 resideoutside the work zone 1004 and are not supervised by the security policy1016. According to some implementations, the personal files/folders1010.1 and the work files/folders 1010.2 may correspond to differentlocations in a filesystem. For example, the personal files/folders1010.1 may be at C:/personal/* and the work files/folders 1010.2 may beat C:/work/*, where * corresponds to a part of a file address string ofthe filesystem. The work zone 1004 may include the C:/work/* location ofthe filesystem where the work files/folders 1010.2 reside.

As shown, the native computing environment 1002 includes a registry1014.1 externally to the work zone 1004. Within the work zone 1004, theregistry is emulated as emulated registry 1014.2. Similarly, the nativecomputing environment 1002 includes global objects 1012.1 externally tothe work zone 1004. Within the work zone 1004, the global objects areemulated as emulated global objects 1012.2. When executing, applications1006.2, 1008.2 within the work zone 1004 use the emulated registry1014.2 and the emulated global objects 1012.2 instead of the registry1014.1 and the global objects 1012.1. As a result, the object andregistry values accessed by the executing applications 1006.2, 1008.2within the work zone 1004 are supervised by the security policy 1016,and separate instances of the applications 1006, 1008 are usedinternally and externally to the work zone 1004.

In some embodiments, the computing machine 1000 stores, within a singleuser account, multiple supervised computing resources (e.g., work files/folders 1010.2) and multiple additional computing resources (e.g.,personal files/ folder 1010.1). The supervised computing resources areassociated with the security policy 1016, while the unsupervisedcomputing resources are not associated with the security policy 1016.The computing machine 1000 executes a first instance of a specifiedapplication (e.g., word processor app 1006.1 or spreadsheet app 1008.1)that lacks read access and lacks write access to any and all of themultiple supervised computing resources. The computing machine 1000executes, simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance ofthe specified application (e.g., word processor app 1006.2 orspreadsheet app 1008.2) that accesses at least a portion of the multiplesupervised computing resources. The computing machine 1000 applies rulesfrom the security policy 1016 to the second instance of the specifiedapplication while foregoing applying the rules from the security policy1016 to the first instance of the specified application.

In some embodiments, the computing machine 1000 stores multiplesupervised computing resources (e.g., work files/ folders 1010.2) andmultiple additional computing resources (e.g., personal files/ folders1010.1). The multiple supervised computing resources are associated withthe security policy 1016. The multiple supervised computing resourcesreside within a supervised zone (e.g., work zone 1004). The supervisedzone comprises a portion of data associated with the native computingenvironment 1002 of the computing machine 1000. The computing machine1000 executes a first instance of a specified application (e.g., wordprocessor app 1006.1 or spreadsheet app 1008.1) externally to thesupervised zone. The first instance has read access and has write accessto data outside the supervised zone. The first instance lacks readaccess and lacks write access to data stored within the supervised zone.The computing machine 1000 executes, simultaneously with the firstinstance, a second instance of the specified application (e.g., wordprocessor app 1006.2 or spreadsheet app 1008.2) within the supervisedzone. The second instance has read access and lacks write access to dataoutside the supervised zone. The second instance has read access and haswrite access to data stored within the supervised zone. The secondinstance runs separately and distinctly from the first instance. Forexample, the second instance may leverage the emulated registry 1014.2and the emulated global objects 1012.1 of the work zone 1004, while thefirst instance may leverage the registry 1014.1 and the global objects1012.1 of the native computing environment 1002.

As used herein, a business may include a business, an organization, orany other entity type. A business may include an organization (e.g., anon-profit or a charity), a government entity (e.g., the Department ofMotor Vehicles or the town tax collector), or a personal entity (e.g., apersonal babysitting entity or a personal financial planning entity).The business resources may be any resources that are desirable to besegregated from personal resources by a business, an organization, agovernment entity, or a personal entity (e.g., a person who wants tosegregate his/her babysitting or financial planning-related computingresources or to segregate other types of computing resources).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example process 1100 associated with asecure computing environment for a personal and business mixed usesystem. In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 11may be performed by a computing machine (e.g., computing machine 100).In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 11 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate from orincluding the computing machine. Additionally, or alternatively, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 11 may be performed by one or morecomponents of computing machine 100, such as processor 102, main memory104, static memory 106, network interface device 120, video display 110,alpha-numeric input device 112, UI navigation device 114, drive unit116, signal generation device 118, and output controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 11 , process 1100 may include storing, within a singleuser account at a computing machine, multiple unsupervised (e.g.,personal) computing resources and multiple supervised (e.g.,organizational or business) computing resources, wherein the multiplesupervised computing resources are associated with a security policy(block 1110). For example, the computing machine may store, within asingle user account at a computing machine, multiple unsupervisedcomputing resources and multiple supervised computing resources, whereinthe multiple business computing resources are associated with a securitypolicy (e.g., an organizational security policy or a business securitypolicy), as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 11 , process 1100 may include receiving, from auser of the computing machine, a request to access a specifiedsupervised computing resource from among the multiple supervisedcomputing resources (block 1120). For example, the computing machine mayreceive, from a user of the computing machine, a request to access aspecified supervised computing resource from among the multiplesupervised computing resources, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 11 , process 1100 may include providing accessto the specified supervised computing resource locally on the computingmachine and directly through a native computing environment of thecomputing machine (block 1130). For example, the computing machine mayprovide access to the specified supervised computing resource locally onthe computing machine and directly through a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 11 , process 1100 may include causing a displayunit to display, at a display position related to a region of thedisplay unit displaying the specified business computing resource, anindicator that the specified supervised computing resource is associatedwith the security policy (block 1140). For example, the computingmachine may cause a display unit to display, at a display positionrelated to a region of the display unit displaying the specifiedsupervised computing resource, an indicator that the specified businesscomputing resource is associated with the security policy, as describedabove.

As further shown in FIG. 11 , process 1100 may include applying securityrules from the security policy to the specified supervised computingresource (block 1150). For example, the computing machine may applysecurity rules from the security policy to the specified supervisedcomputing resource, as described above.

Process 1100 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, process 1100 includes receiving, from theuser of the computing machine, a request to access a specifiedunsupervised computing resource from among the multiple unsupervisedcomputing resources, providing access to the specified unsupervisedcomputing resource locally on the computing machine and directly througha native computing environment of the computing machine, forgoingcausing the display unit to display the indicator that the specifiedunsupervised computing resource is associated with the business securitypolicy, and foregoing applying security rules from the security policyto the specified unsupervised computing resource.

In a second implementation, the multiple computing resources are notassociated with the security policy.

In a third implementation, an administrator computing device, externalto the computing machine, has access to the multiple supervisedcomputing resources residing at the computing machine and lacks accessto the multiple unsupervised computing resources residing at thecomputing machine.

Although FIG. 11 shows example blocks of process 1100, in someimplementations, process 1100 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 11 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 1100 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an example process 1200 associated with asecure computing environment for a mixed use system. In someimplementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 12 may be performedby a computing machine (e.g., computing machine 100). In someimplementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 12 may be performedby another device or a group of devices separate from or including thecomputing machine. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more processblocks of FIG. 12 may be performed by one or more components ofcomputing machine 100, such as processor 102, main memory 104, staticmemory 106, network interface device 120, video display 110,alpha-numeric input device 112, UI navigation device 114, drive unit116, signal generation device 118, and output controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 12 , process 1200 may include receiving, via a useraccount at a computing machine, a request to access a computing resourceresiding on the computing machine (block 1210). For example, thecomputing machine may receive, via a user account at a computingmachine, a request to access a computing resource residing on thecomputing machine, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 12 , process 1200 may include providing accessto the computing resource locally on the computing machine and directlythrough a native computing environment of the computing machine (block1220). For example, the computing machine may provide access to thecomputing resource locally on the computing machine and directly througha native computing environment of the computing machine, as describedabove.

As further shown in FIG. 12 , process 1200 may include determining thatthe computing resource is associated with a security policy, wherein theuser account at the computing machine is associated with multiplecomputing resources, including the computing resource, residing on thecomputing machine, a first portion of the multiple computing resourcesbeing associated with the security policy and a second portion of themultiple computing resources not being associated with the securitypolicy (block 1230). For example, the computing machine may determinethat the computing resource is associated with a security policy,wherein the user account at the computing machine is associated withmultiple computing resources, including the computing resource, residingon the computing machine, a first portion of the multiple computingresources being associated with the security policy and a second portionof the multiple computing resources not being associated with thesecurity policy, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 12 , process 1200 may include causing, inresponse to determining that the computing resource is associated withthe security policy, a display unit to display, in association with aregion of the display unit displaying the computing resource, a visualindication that the computing resource is associated with the securitypolicy (block 1240). For example, the computing machine may cause, inresponse to determining that the computing resource is associated withthe security policy, a display unit to display, in association with aregion of the display unit displaying the computing resource, a visualindication that the computing resource is associated with the securitypolicy, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 12 , process 1200 may include applying securityrules from the security policy to the computing resource (block 1250).For example, the computing machine may apply security rules from thesecurity policy to the computing resource, as described above.

Process 1200 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, the computing resource is a website, anapplication or a file, wherein the computing machine is one of a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone or a tablet computer.

In a second implementation, the security policy is an organizationalsecurity policy, wherein the computing machine stores an organizationalset of computing resources associated with the organizational securitypolicy and a personal set of computing resources not associated with theorganizational security policy.

In a third implementation, the security rules from the security policycomprise one or more of blocking sharing of the computing resource,logging a reason for sharing of the computing resource, receiving a userconfirmation before sharing of the computing resource, loggingkeystrokes while the computing resource is selected, and locking thecomputing resource in response to the computing machine being idle forat least a threshold time period.

In a fourth implementation, sharing comprises one or more of printing,screensharing, transmitting via email or a messaging service, draggingand dropping, cutting and pasting, downloading, uploading, attaching,printing, accessing a specific website, accessing a category ofwebsites, launching an application or taking a screenshot.

In a fifth implementation, process 1200 includes deactivating one ormore security rules from the security policy with respect to a computingresource in response to a user request, and logging a reason for theuser request.

In a sixth implementation, process 1200 includes receiving, via agraphical user interface (GUI), an indication of a selection of thevisual indication, and providing for display, in response to theselection of the visual indication, information regarding permissions ofa user of the computing machine with respect to the computing resourceor information regarding the security policy.

In a seventh implementation, process 1200 includes causing the displayunit to simultaneously display the computing resource associated withthe security policy and an additional computing resource not associatedwith the security policy, both the computing resource and the additionalcomputing resource executing through the native computing environment ofthe computing machine.

In an eighth implementation, the visual indicator is displayed on oradjacent to a boundary of the region of the display unit displaying thecomputing resource.

Although FIG. 12 shows example blocks of process 1200, in someimplementations, process 1200 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 12 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 1200 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example process 1300 associated withapplying a security policy to a portion of running instances of anapplication. In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG.13 may be performed by a computing machine (e.g., computing machine100). In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 13 maybe performed by another device or a group of devices separate from orincluding the computing machine. Additionally, or alternatively, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 13 may be performed by one or morecomponents of the computing machine 100, such as processor 102, mainmemory 104, static memory 106, network interface device 120, videodisplay 110, alpha-numeric input device 114, UI navigation device 114,drive unit 116, signal generation device 118, and output controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 13 , process 1300 may include storing, within a singleuser account at a computing machine, multiple supervised computingresources and multiple additional computing resources, wherein themultiple supervised computing resources are associated with a securitypolicy (block 1310). For example, the computing machine may store,within a single user account at a computing machine, multiple supervisedcomputing resources and multiple additional computing resources, whereinthe multiple supervised computing resources are associated with asecurity policy, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 13 , process 1300 may include executing a firstinstance of a specified application that lacks read access and lackswrite access to any and all of the multiple supervised computingresources (block 1320). For example, the computing machine may execute afirst instance of a specified application that lacks read access andlacks write access to any and all of the multiple supervised computingresources, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 13 , process 1300 may include executing,simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance of thespecified application that accesses at least a portion of the multiplesupervised computing resources (block 1330). For example, the computingmachine may execute, simultaneously with the first instance, a secondinstance of the specified application that accesses at least a portionof the multiple supervised computing resources, as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 13 , process 1300 may include applying rulesfrom the security policy to the second instance of the specifiedapplication while foregoing applying the rules from the security policyto the first instance of the specified application (block 1340). Forexample, the computing machine may apply rules from the security policyto the second instance of the specified application while foregoingapplying the rules from the security policy to the first instance of thespecified application, as described above.

Process 1300 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, process 1300 includes identifying a computingresource as a supervised computing resource based on one or more of alocation of the computing resource in a directory or file system, acloud storage location, a rule in the security policy, a process name orpath, a uniform resource locator (URL) address, and whether thecomputing resource is launched from an application launcher associatedwith the multiple supervised computing resources.

In a second implementation, the additional computing resources comprisepersonal computing resources, wherein the supervised computing resourcescomprise organizational computing resources, wherein the multiplesupervised computing resources and the multiple additional computingresources comprise files, cloud file storage access, applications orwebsites.

In a third implementation, the first instance of the specifiedapplication accesses at least a portion of the multiple additionalcomputing resources.

In a fourth implementation, the second instance of the specifiedapplication has read access and lacks write access to at least a portionof the multiple additional computing resources, wherein, when the secondinstance access the at least the portion of the multiple additionalcomputing resources, application of the security policy is based on asetting associated with the computing machine.

In a fifth implementation, process 1300 includes accessing, using athird instance of the specified application, an unsecure computingresource, blocking access, by the third instance of the specifiedapplication, to any and all of the multiple supervised computingresources and any and all of the multiple additional computingresources.

In a sixth implementation, process 1300 includes identifying theunsecure computing resource based on the unsecure computing resourceresiding in a download memory region, a memory region associated withattachments for an email application, or a memory region associated witha web browser.

In a seventh implementation, the download memory region comprises adownload folder, wherein the memory region associated with the webbrowser comprises the download folder, wherein the memory regionassociated with the attachments for the email application comprises anattachment folder.

Although FIG. 13 shows example blocks of process 1300, in someimplementations, process 1300 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 13 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 1300 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process 1400 associated withexecuting the same application in supervised and unsupervised zones. Insome implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 14 may beperformed by a computing machine (e.g., computing machine 100). In someimplementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 14 may be performedby another device or a group of devices separate from or including thecomputing machine. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more processblocks of FIG. 14 may be performed by one or more components ofcomputing machine 100, such as processor 102, main memory 104, staticmemory 106, network interface device 120, video display 110,alpha-numeric input device 112, UI navigation device 114, drive unit116, signal generation device 118, and output controller 128.

As shown in FIG. 14 , process 1400 may include storing, at a computingmachine (e.g., within a single user account), multiple supervisedcomputing resources and multiple additional computing resources, whereinthe multiple supervised computing resources are associated with asecurity policy, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesreside within a supervised zone, the supervised zone comprising aportion of data associated with a native computing environment of thecomputing machine (block 1410). For example, the computing machine maystore, at a computing machine, multiple supervised computing resourcesand multiple additional computing resources, wherein the multiplesupervised computing resources are associated with a security policy,wherein the multiple supervised computing resources reside within asupervised zone, the supervised zone comprising a portion of dataassociated with a native computing environment of the computing machine,as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 14 , process 1400 may include executing a firstinstance of a specified application externally to the supervised zone,wherein the first instance has read access and has write access to dataoutside the supervised zone, wherein the first instance lacks readaccess and lacks write access to data stored within the supervised zone(block 1420). For example, the computing machine may execute a firstinstance of a specified application externally to the supervised zone,wherein the first instance has read access and has write access to dataoutside the supervised zone, wherein the first instance lacks readaccess and lacks write access to data stored within the supervised zone,as described above.

As further shown in FIG. 14 , process 1400 may include executing,simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance of thespecified application within the supervised zone, wherein the secondinstance has read access and lacks write access to data outside thesupervised zone, wherein the second instance has read access and haswrite access to data stored within the supervised zone, wherein thesecond instance runs separately and distinctly from the first instance(block 1430). For example, the computing machine may execute,simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance of thespecified application within the supervised zone, wherein the secondinstance has read access and lacks write access to data outside thesupervised zone, wherein the second instance has read access and haswrite access to data stored within the supervised zone, wherein thesecond instance runs separately and distinctly from the first instance,as described above.

Process 1400 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, the additional computing resources comprisepersonal computing resources, wherein the supervised computing resourcescomprise organizational computing resources, wherein the multiplesupervised computing resources and the multiple additional computingresources comprise files, cloud file storage access, applications orwebsites.

In a second implementation, process 1400 includes the second instance ofthe specified application accesses a network via a supervised networkinterface, the security policy specifying networks or subnets accessiblevia the supervised network interface, and the supervised networkinterface isolates domain name system (DNS) traffic associated with thesupervised zone.

In a third implementation, process 1400 includes the first instance ofthe specified application accesses the network via a native networkinterface of the computing machine and not via the supervised networkinterface, and the supervised network interface restricts the multipleadditional resources, residing externally to the supervised zone, fromaccessing network resources associated with the supervised zone.

In a fourth implementation, process 1400 includes the first instance ofthe specified application accesses a Component Object Model (COM) of thecomputing machine, and the second instance of the specified applicationaccesses an emulated COM of the supervised zone that is different fromthe COM of the computing machine. The COM may be a Distributed ComponentObject Model (DCOM).

In a fifth implementation, process 1400 includes the first instance ofthe specified application accesses, for interprocess communication, aremote procedure call (RPC) subsystem of the computing machine, and thesecond instance of the specified application accesses, for interprocesscommunication, an emulated RPC subsystem of the supervised zone that isdifferent from the RPC subsystem of the computing machine.

In some implementations, the first instance of the specified applicationaccesses common app platform application programming interfaces (APIs)available to universal applications (e.g., Universal Windows Platform(UWP) developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.) of thecomputing machine. The second instance of the specified applicationaccesses common app platform APIs of the supervised zone that isdifferent from the common app platform APIs available to universalapplications of the computing machine. The common app platform APIs maycomprise at least one of: Shell Infrastructure Host (sihost), StateRepository Service, Background Task Infrastructure, User ManagerService, Azure Active Directory (AAD) Broker, and AAD CredentialsManager. The Background Task Infrastructure comprises Host ActivityManager. The User Manager Service comprises Application ActivationManager and View Manager.

In a sixth implementation, process 1400 includes the computing machinestores, externally to the supervised zone, a set of global objects, thecomputing machine stores, within the supervised zone, an emulated set ofglobal objects emulating the set of global objects, the first instanceof the specified application accesses the set of global objects, and thesecond instance of the specified application accesses the emulated setof global objects.

In a seventh implementation, process 1400 includes the computing machinestores, externally to the supervised zone, a computing machine registryrepresenting settings comprising of hardware device configurations,installed application settings, and operating system settings, thecomputing machine stores, within the supervised zone, an emulatedregistry emulating the computing machine registry for applicationsexecuting within the supervised zone, the first instance of thespecified application accesses the computing machine registry, and thesecond instance of the specified application accesses the emulatedregistry.

In an eighth implementation, process 1400 includes the specifiedapplication is a file manager application, the first instance is foraccess to files from the multiple additional computing resources, andthe second instance is for access to files from the multiple supervisedcomputing resources and read-only access to the multiple additionalcomputing resources. The second instance being for access to files fromthe multiple supervised computing resources and read-only access to themultiple additional computing resources may be based on the securitypolicy.

In a ninth implementation, process 1400 includes accessing, via a fileexplorer of the computing machine, a request to open a selected file,wherein the file explorer executes externally to the supervised zone,wherein the file has an associated application, wherein the fileexplorer provides access to both files external to the supervised zoneand files internal to the supervised zone, determining whether theselected file is from among the multiple supervised computing resources,upon determining that the selected file is from among the multiplesupervised computing resources opening the selected file using aninstance of the associated application executing within with thesupervised zone, and upon determining that the selected file is not fromamong the multiple supervised computing resources opening the selectedfile using an instance of the associated application not executingwithin the supervised zone.

In a tenth implementation, an operating system of the computing machinelacks access to the multiple supervised computing resources from outsidethe supervised zone.

In an eleventh implementation, a security program is able to access boththe supervised zone and the unsupervised zone, wherein the securityprogram comprises one or more of an antivirus program, an anti-malwareprogram or a security auditing tool. In some cases, the computingmachine identifies a program as the security program based on a datastructure (e.g., in a database, another data repository, or the memoryof the computing machine) storing known security programs and based on adigital signature associated with the program. In response to thedigital signature being associated with one of the known securityprograms in the data structure, an application associated with thesecurity program transmits, to a driver of the computing machine, amessage indicating that the program is to be able to access both thesupervised zone and the unsupervised zone. The data structure may bedynamically updated based on known security programs, as new securityprograms may appear after the security policy is first implemented atthe computing machine.

In a twelfth implementation, process 1400 includes accessing, using arestricted instance of the specified application executing in arestricted zone, an unsecure computing resource, blocking access, by therestricted instance of the specified application, to any and all of themultiple supervised computing resources and any and all of the multipleadditional computing resources. The restricted zone may be used forcomputing resources (e.g., files, cloud file storage access,applications or websites) that are downloaded from the Internet orreceived as email messages and are not known to be secure. Therestricted zone may restrict access, by computing resources in therestricted zone, to certain software or hardware of the computingmachine. Upon verification that a computing resource is safe, the usermay be able to move the computing resource from the restricted zone intothe unsupervised zone.

In a thirteenth implementation, a security program is able to access thesupervised zone, the unsupervised zone, and the restricted zone, whereinthe security program comprises one or more of an antivirus program, ananti-malware program or a security auditing tool.

In a fourteenth implementation, process 1400 includes identifying theunsecure computing resource based on the unsecure computing resourceresiding in a download memory region, a memory region associated withattachments for an email application, or a memory region associated witha web browser.

In a fifteenth implementation, the download memory region comprises adownload folder, wherein the memory region associated with the webbrowser comprises the download folder, wherein the memory regionassociated with the attachments for the email application comprises anattachment folder.

In a sixteenth implementation, the computing machine opens, via thesecond instance, an additional application or website different from thespecified application. The computing machine executes the additionalapplication or website within the supervised zone. The additionalapplication or website has read access and lacks write access to dataoutside the supervised zone. The additional application or website hasread access and has write access to data stored within the supervisedzone.

In a seventeenth implementation, the computing machine opens, via thefirst instance, additional application or website different from thespecified application. The computing machine executes the additionalapplication or website externally to the supervised zone. The additionalapplication or website lacks read access and lacks write access to datastored within the supervised zone.

In one example use case, a user launches a spreadsheet application inthe supervised zone to view a business budget. The user also launchesthe same spreadsheet application externally to the supervised zone toview a personal ancestry table. Two separate and distinct instances ofthe spreadsheet application are opened—one inside the supervised zoneand one outside the supervised zone. The business budget includeshyperlinks for purchasing products for suppliers. When the user selectsone of the hyperlinks for purchasing the products from the suppliers,the computing machine opens the hyperlinks within the supervised zonewithin a default web browser for the supervised zone. The personalancestry table includes hyperlinks for social media websites of theuser's relatives. When the user selects a hyperlink for a social mediawebsite, the social media page is opened within a default web browserfor the unsupervised zone. The supervised zone and the unsupervised zonemay have different default web browsers.

Alternatively, the supervised zone and the unsupervised zone may havethe same default web browser. If the supervised zone and theunsupervised zone may have the same default web browser, two differentwindows of the web browser may be opened. One window (with the websitefor purchasing the product from the supplier) may operate within thesupervised zone and one window (with the social media page) may operatewithin the unsupervised zone. The window with the website for purchasingthe product from the supplier may have a stored version of a businesscredit card (stored within the supervised zone, in a wallet applicationor within the web browser), which can be used to purchase the product.However, the window with the social media website may lack the storedversion of the business credit card, so that the user does notaccidentally use the business credit card for a personal purchase orderplaced within the unsupervised zone.

Although FIG. 14 shows example blocks of process 1400, in someimplementations, process 1400 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 14 . Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 1400 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example process 1500 associated withdisplaying an organizational indicator for an organizational computingresource, in accordance with some embodiments. In some implementations,one or more process blocks of FIG. 15 may be performed by a computingmachine (e.g., computing machine 100). In some implementations, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 15 may be performed by another device or agroup of devices separate from or including the computing machine.Additionally, or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 15may be performed by one or more components of computing machine 100,such as processor 102, main memory 104, static memory 106, networkinterface device 120, video display 110, alpha-numeric input device 112,UI navigation device 114, drive unit 116, signal generation device 118,and output controller 128.

At block 1510, the computing machine stores, in a memory (e.g., a localmemory) of the computing machine, computing resources includingsupervised computing resources (e.g., organizational or businesscomputing resources). The computing machine may store both supervisedcomputing resources (e.g., business files or business software) andunsupervised computing resources (e.g., non-organizational ornon-business computing resources, such as personal files or personalsoftware). In some examples, the memory of the computing machine storesthe supervised computing resources and unsupervised computing resources.In some cases, the supervised computing resources and the unsupervisedcomputing resources are mutually exclusive.

At block 1520, the computing machine receives a request to display acomputing resource from the computing resources stored in the memory.For example, a user may request, via a graphical user interface of thecomputing machine, to open a file for viewing (and, in some cases,editing).

At block 1530, the computing machine causes display of the computingresource within a display region of a display device. The display regionmay include all or a part of the display device. The display region mayinclude all or a portion of the display space on the display device. Thedisplay region may include a window in some Windows® operating systemsdeveloped by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. or a similardisplay region in another operating system.

At block 1540, the computing machine determines whether the computingresource is a supervised computing resource based on identificationcriteria (e.g., organizational identification criteria or businessidentification criteria). The identification criteria may include atleast one of: the computing resource residing in a directory in afilesystem of the computing machine or of a cloud storage unit, a filetype of the computing resource, an application associated with thecomputing resource, a website associated with the computing resource, orthe computing resource having been provided to or installed at thecomputing machine by a specified entity (e.g., an entity associated withan organization or a business). The identification criteria may includepresence of the computing resource within a predefined zone of thememory (e.g., an organizational zone or a business zone of the memory).The predefined zone has at least one security policy that is applicableto the computing resources within the predefined zone and not applicableto the computing resources external to the predefined zone. In somecases, the predefined zone has at least one network interface that isaccessible to the computing resources within the predefined zone and notaccessible to the computing resources external to the predefined zone.In some implementations, the identification criteria include a computingresource being accessed via a supervised launcher (e.g., anorganizational launcher or a business launcher) at the computing machineor including data from an additional supervised computing resource. Theadditional supervised computing resource may include at least one of: afile, an email, a Software as a Service (SaaS) application or website,or a network destination or subnet. As used herein, the term “subnet”encompasses its plain and ordinary meaning. A subnet may include asubnetwork that is a component of another network.

If the computing resource is the supervised computing resource, theprocess 1500 continues to block 1550. If the computing resource is notthe supervised resource, the process 1500 continues to block 1560.

At block 1550, upon determining that the computing resource is thesupervised computing resource, the computing machine causes display ofan indicator (e.g., an organizational indicator or a business indicator)adjacent to an edge of the display region. The indicator indicates thatthe computing resource is the supervised computing resource. Theindicator may include a border (e.g., the border 406A, 406B) occupyingpixels external to the display region with a distance less than or equalto n pixels from the display region, where n is a positive integer, andwhere the border has a predefined color or design. The indicator mayinclude a badge (e.g., the badge 408A, 408B) having a circular orelliptical shape overlaying a portion of the edge of the display region.After block 1550, the process 1500 ends.

At block 1560, upon determining that the computing resource is not thesupervised computing resource, the computing machine foregoes causingdisplay of the supervised indicator. After block 1560, the process 1500ends.

Some embodiments are described as numbered examples (Example 1, 2, 3,etc.). These are provided as examples only and do not limit thetechnology disclosed herein.

Example 1 is a method comprising: storing, at a computing machine,multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy; causing, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display simultaneously, all or a portion of aspecified supervised computing resource and all or a portion of aspecified additional computing resource; applying security rules fromthe security policy to the specified supervised computing resource,wherein applying the security rules comprises at least facilitatingtracking, by a tracking service, activity of the computing machine withrespect to the specified supervised computing resource; and forgoingfacilitating tracking, by the tracking service, activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified additional computingresource and with respect to activity on the computing machine that isnot associated with one or more of the multiple supervised computingresources.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 includes, wherein theadditional computing resources comprise personal computing resources,wherein the supervised computing resources comprise business computingresources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resources and themultiple additional computing resources comprise files, cloud filestorage access, applications or websites.

In Example 3, the subject matter of Examples 1-2 includes, foregoingapplying security rules from the security policy to the specifiedadditional computing resource.

In Example 4, the subject matter of Examples 1-3 includes, displaying,in association with the specified supervised computing resource, avisual indicator indicating that tracking is ongoing.

In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 includes, wherein thevisual indicator comprises a badge or a border adjacent to a region ofthe display unit occupied by the specified supervised computingresource, wherein the visual indicator is established upon launch of thesupervised computing resource, wherein the visual indicator is removedupon exit from the supervised computing resource or a log out by a userof the computing machine.

In Example 6, the subject matter of Examples 1-5 includes, wherein theactivity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource comprisenetwork traffic.

In Example 7, the subject matter of Examples 1-6 includes, wherein theactivity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource compriseinternet browsing.

In Example 8, the subject matter of Examples 1-7 includes, wherein theactivity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource comprisecamera or microphone input activity.

In Example 9, the subject matter of Examples 1-8 includes, storinginformation transmitted from the computing machine to the trackingservice; and providing for display, in response to a user request, of avisual representation of the information transmitted from the computingmachine to the tracking service.

In Example 10, the subject matter of Examples 1-9 includes, wherein thetracking service comprises one or more of: a cloud-based trackingservice, one or more servers, and an administrator computing deviceassociated with the security policy.

Example 11 is a method comprising: storing, at a computing machine,multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy; causing, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display, at a first display position, all or aportion of a specified supervised computing resource from among themultiple supervised computing resources; causing the display unit todisplay, at a display position calculated based on the first displayposition, a visual indicator that the specified supervised computingresource is associated with the security policy; and applying securityrules from the security policy to the specified supervised computingresource.

In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 includes, wherein theadditional computing resources comprise personal computing resources,wherein the supervised computing resources comprise business computingresources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resources and themultiple additional computing resources comprise files, cloud filestorage access, applications or websites.

In Example 13, the subject matter of Examples 11-12 includes, whereinthe additional computing resources comprise computing resources of afirst type, wherein the supervised computing resources comprisecomputing resources of a second type for which an entity desiresenhanced security, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesand the multiple additional computing resources comprise files, cloudfile storage access, applications or websites.

In Example 14, the subject matter of Examples 11-13 includes, whereinthe visual indicator comprises a badge proximate to an edge of the firstdisplay position, the badge indicating that the security policy isapplicable to the specified supervised computing resource.

In Example 15, the subject matter of Example 14 includes, receiving asignal representing a user selection of the badge; and causing, inresponse to the user selection of the badge, the display unit to displayinformation about the security policy applicable to the computingmachine.

In Example 16, the subject matter of Examples 11-15 includes, whereinthe visual indicator comprises a border, wherein the border comprisespixels that are: external to the first display position, within athreshold distance from an edge of the first display position, and notoccupied by a badge associated with the visual indicator.

In Example 17, the subject matter of Example 16 includes, whereinmultiple computing resources are displayed on the display unit, whereineach displayed computing resource is associated with a display priorityvalue based on a time when the displayed computing resource was lastselected, wherein the border comprises pixels that are not occupied by acomputing resource that was selected after a last selection time of thespecified supervised computing resource.

In Example 18, the subject matter of Examples 16-17 includes, receiving,at processing circuitry of the computing machine, a signal representingdragging the specified supervised computing resource along the displayunit; recalculating, using the processing circuitry, a position of theborder in a discrete manner once every n milliseconds or based onoperating system window events, wherein n is a predetermined positivenumber.

In Example 19, the subject matter of Examples 16-18 includes, generatinga pop-up or an on-display alert by the specified supervised computingresource; and causing display of the border around the pop-up or theon-display alert.

In Example 20, the subject matter of Examples 11-19 includes, receiving,at the computing machine, a user request to perform an action thatviolates a security rule; and permitting, based on a setting stored inconjunction with the security policy and provided by an administrator ofthe security policy, the user to perform the action that violates thesecurity rule in response to an additional affirmative act by the userconfirming that the user wishes to perform the action.

In Example 21, the subject matter of Examples 11-20 includes, causing,via the native computing environment of the computing machine, thedisplay unit to display, at a second display position, all or a portionof a specified additional computing resource from among the multipleadditional computing resources; foregoing causing the display unit todisplay, in association with the specified additional computingresource, the visual indicator; and foregoing applying security rulesfrom the security policy to the specified additional computing resource.

In Example 22, the subject matter of Examples 11-21 includes, causing,via a native computing environment of the computing machine, the displayunit coupled with the computing machine to display, at a predefineddisplay position, indicia of multiple computing resources open on thecomputing device, wherein indicia of supervised computing resources arecoupled with a visual symbol indicating that the supervised computingresources are associated with the security policy.

In Example 23, the subject matter of Example 22 includes, whereinindicia of additional computing resources are not coupled with thevisual symbol.

In Example 24, the subject matter of Examples 22-23 includes, whereinthe displayed indicia of the multiple computing resources comprise atask bar or a dock.

Example 25 is a method comprising: storing, within a single user accountat a computing machine, multiple unsupervised computing resources andmultiple supervised computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy; receiving,from a user of the computing machine, a request to access a specifiedsupervised computing resource from among the multiple supervisedcomputing resources; providing access to the specified supervisedcomputing resource locally on the computing machine and directly througha native computing environment of the computing machine; causing adisplay unit to display, at a display position related to a region ofthe display unit displaying the specified supervised computing resource,an indicator that the specified supervised computing resource isassociated with the security policy; and applying security rules fromthe security policy to the specified supervised computing resource.

In Example 26, the subject matter of Example 25 includes, receiving,from the user of the computing machine, a request to access a specifiedunsupervised computing resource from among the multiple unsupervisedcomputing resources; providing access to the specified unsupervisedcomputing resource locally on the computing machine and directly througha native computing environment of the computing machine; forgoingcausing the display unit to display the indicator that the specifiedunsupervised computing resource is associated with the security policy;and foregoing applying security rules from the security policy to thespecified personal computing resource.

In Example 27, the subject matter of Examples 25-26 includes, whereinthe multiple unsupervised computing resources are not associated withthe security policy.

In Example 28, the subject matter of Examples 25-27 includes, wherein anadministrator computing device, external to the computing machine, hasaccess to the multiple supervised computing resources residing at thecomputing machine and lacks access to the multiple unsupervisedcomputing resources residing at the computing machine.

In Example 29, the subject matter of Examples 25-28 includes, whereinthe security policy comprises the security rules restricting activity ofthe user of the computing machine with respect to the multiplesupervised computing resources.

In Example 30, the subject matter of Examples 25-29 includes, whereinthe security policy comprises a monitoring policy allowing a remotecomputing device to monitor activity of the user of the computingmachine with respect to the multiple supervised computing resources.

In Example 31, the subject matter of Examples 25-30 includes, whereinthe multiple unsupervised computing resources and the multiplesupervised computing resources reside in separate and distinctdirectories of a filesystem of the computing machine or of a cloudstorage unit.

Example 32 is a method comprising: receiving, via a user account at acomputing machine, a request to access a computing resource residing onthe computing machine; providing access to the computing resourcelocally on the computing machine and directly through a native computingenvironment of the computing machine; determining that the computingresource is associated with a security policy, wherein the user accountat the computing machine is associated with multiple computingresources, including the computing resource, residing on the computingmachine, a first portion of the multiple computing resources beingassociated with the security policy and a second portion of the multiplecomputing resources not being associated with the security policy;causing, in response to determining that the computing resource isassociated with the security policy, a display unit to display, inassociation with a region of the display unit displaying the computingresource, a visual indication that the computing resource is associatedwith the security policy; and applying security rules from the securitypolicy to the computing resource.

In Example 33, the subject matter of Example 32 includes, wherein thecomputing resource is a website, an application or a file, wherein thecomputing machine is one of: a laptop computer, a desktop computer, amobile phone or a tablet computer.

In Example 34, the subject matter of Examples 32-33 includes, whereinthe security policy is an organizational security policy, wherein thecomputing machine stores an organizational set of computing resourcesassociated with the organizational security policy and a personal set ofcomputing resources not associated with the organizational securitypolicy.

In Example 35, the subject matter of Examples 32-34 includes, whereinthe security rules from the security policy comprise one or more of:blocking sharing of the computing resource, logging a reason for sharingof the computing resource, receiving a user confirmation before sharingof the computing resource, logging keystrokes while the computingresource is selected, and locking the computing resource in response tothe computing machine being idle for at least a threshold time period.

In Example 36, the subject matter of Example 35 includes, whereinsharing comprises one or more of printing, screensharing, transmittingvia email or a messaging service, dragging and dropping, cutting andpasting, downloading, uploading, attaching, printing, accessing aspecific website, accessing a category of websites, launching anapplication or taking a screenshot.

In Example 37, the subject matter of Examples 32-36 includes,deactivating one or more security rules from the security policy withrespect to a computing resource in response to a user request; andlogging a reason for the user request.

In Example 38, the subject matter of Examples 32-37 includes, receiving,via a graphical user interface (GUI), an indication of a selection ofthe visual indication; and providing for display, in response to theselection of the visual indication, information regarding permissions ofa user of the computing machine with respect to the computing resourceor information regarding the security policy.

In Example 39, the subject matter of Examples 32-38 includes, causingthe display unit to simultaneously display the computing resourceassociated with the security policy and an additional computing resourcenot associated with the security policy, both the computing resource andthe additional computing resource executing through the native computingenvironment of the computing machine.

In Example 40, the subject matter of Examples 32-39 includes, whereinthe visual indicator is displayed on or adjacent to a boundary of theregion of the display unit displaying the computing resource.

Example 41 is a method comprising: storing, within a single user accountat a computing machine, multiple supervised computing resources andmultiple additional computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy; executing afirst instance of a specified application that lacks read access andlacks write access to any and all of the multiple supervised computingresources; executing, simultaneously with the first instance, a secondinstance of the specified application that accesses at least a portionof the multiple supervised computing resources; and applying rules fromthe security policy to the second instance of the specified applicationwhile foregoing applying the rules from the security policy to the firstinstance of the specified application.

In Example 42, the subject matter of Example 41 includes, identifying acomputing resource as a supervised computing resource based on one ormore of: a location of the computing resource in a directory or filesystem, a cloud storage location, a rule in the security policy, aprocess name or path, a uniform resource locator (URL) address, andwhether the computing resource is launched from an application launcherassociated with the multiple supervised computing resources.

In Example 43, the subject matter of Examples 41-42 includes, whereinthe additional computing resources comprise personal computingresources, wherein the supervised computing resources compriseorganizational computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources and the multiple additional computing resourcescomprise files, cloud file storage access, applications or websites.

In Example 44, the subject matter of Examples 41-43 includes, whereinthe first instance of the specified application accesses at least aportion of the multiple additional computing resources.

In Example 45, the subject matter of Examples 41-44 includes, whereinthe second instance of the specified application has read access andlacks write access to at least a portion of the multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein, when the second instance access the atleast the portion of the multiple additional computing resources,application of the security policy is based on a setting associated withthe computing machine.

In Example 46, the subject matter of Examples 41-45 includes, accessing,using a third instance of the specified application, an unsecurecomputing resource; blocking access, by the third instance of thespecified application, to any and all of the multiple supervisedcomputing resources and any and all of the multiple additional computingresources.

In Example 47, the subject matter of Example 46 includes, identifyingthe unsecure computing resource based on the unsecure computing resourceresiding in a download memory region, a memory region associated withattachments for an email application, or a memory region associated witha web browser.

In Example 48, the subject matter of Example 47 includes, wherein thedownload memory region comprises a download folder, wherein the memoryregion associated with the web browser comprises the download folder,wherein the memory region associated with the attachments for the emailapplication comprises an attachment folder.

Example 49 is a method comprising: storing, at a computing machine,multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources reside within a supervised zone, the supervised zonecomprising a portion of data associated with a native computingenvironment of the computing machine; executing a first instance of aspecified application externally to the supervised zone, wherein thefirst instance has read access and has write access to data outside thesupervised zone, wherein the first instance lacks read access and lackswrite access to data stored within the supervised zone; and executing,simultaneously with the first instance, a second instance of thespecified application within the supervised zone, wherein the secondinstance has read access and lacks write access to data outside thesupervised zone, wherein the second instance has read access and haswrite access to data stored within the supervised zone, wherein thesecond instance runs separately and distinctly from the first instance.

In Example 50, the subject matter of Example 49 includes, wherein theadditional computing resources comprise personal computing resources,wherein the supervised computing resources comprise organizationalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesand the multiple additional computing resources comprise files, cloudfile storage access, applications or websites.

In Example 51, the subject matter of Examples 49-50 includes, wherein:the second instance of the specified application accesses a network viaa supervised network interface, and the supervised network interfaceisolates domain name system (DNS) traffic associated with the supervisedzone.

In Example 52, the subject matter of Example 51 includes, wherein: thefirst instance of the specified application accesses the network via anative network interface of the computing machine and not via thesupervised network interface, and the supervised network interfacerestricts the multiple additional resources, residing externally to thesupervised zone, from accessing network resources associated with thesupervised zone.

In Example 53, the subject matter of Examples 49-52 includes, wherein:the first instance of the specified application accesses a ComponentObject Model (COM) of the computing machine, and the second instance ofthe specified application accesses an emulated COM of the supervisedzone that is different from the COM of the computing machine.

In Example 54, the subject matter of Examples 49-53 includes, wherein:the first instance of the specified application accesses, forinterprocess communication, a remote procedure call (RPC) subsystem ofthe computing machine, and the second instance of the specifiedapplication accesses, for interprocess communication, an emulated RPCsubsystem of the supervised zone that is different from the RPCsubsystem of the computing machine.

In Example 55, the subject matter of Examples 49-54 includes, wherein:the computing machine stores, externally to the supervised zone, a setof global objects, the computing machine stores, within the supervisedzone, an emulated set of global objects emulating the set of globalobjects, the first instance of the specified application accesses theset of global objects, and the second instance of the specifiedapplication accesses the emulated set of global objects.

In Example 56, the subject matter of Examples 49-55 includes, wherein:the computing machine stores, externally to the supervised zone, acomputing machine registry representing settings comprising of hardwaredevice configurations, installed application settings, and operatingsystem settings, the computing machine stores, within the supervisedzone, an emulated registry emulating the computing machine registry forapplications executing within the supervised zone, the first instance ofthe specified application accesses the computing machine registry, andthe second instance of the specified application accesses the emulatedregistry.

In Example 57, the subject matter of Examples 49-56 includes, wherein:the specified application is a file manager application, the firstinstance is for access to files from the multiple additional computingresources, and the second instance is for access to files from themultiple supervised computing resources and read-only access to themultiple additional computing resources.

In Example 58, the subject matter of Examples 49-57 includes, accessing,via a file explorer of the computing machine, a request to open aselected file, wherein the file explorer executes externally to thesupervised zone, wherein the file has an associated application, whereinthe file explorer provides access to both files external to thesupervised zone and files internal to the supervised zone; determiningwhether the selected file is from among the multiple supervisedcomputing resources; upon determining that the selected file is fromamong the multiple supervised computing resources: opening the selectedfile using an instance of the associated application executing withinwith the supervised zone; and upon determining that the selected file isnot from among the multiple supervised computing resources: opening theselected file using an instance of the associated application notexecuting within the supervised zone.

In Example 59, the subject matter of Examples 49-58 includes, wherein anoperating system of the computing machine lacks access to the multiplesupervised computing resources from outside the supervised zone.

In Example 60, the subject matter of Examples 49-59 includes, wherein asecurity program is able to access both the supervised zone and theunsupervised zone, wherein the security program comprises one or more ofan antivirus program, an anti-malware program or a security auditingtool.

In Example 61, the subject matter of Examples 49-60 includes, accessing,using a restricted instance of the specified application executing in arestricted zone, an unsecure computing resource; blocking access, by therestricted instance of the specified application, to any and all of themultiple supervised computing resources and any and all of the multipleadditional computing resources.

In Example 62, the subject matter of Example 61 includes, wherein asecurity program is able to access the supervised zone, the unsupervisedzone, and the restricted zone, wherein the security program comprisesone or more of an antivirus program, an anti-malware program or asecurity auditing tool.

In Example 63, the subject matter of Examples 61-62 includes,identifying the unsecure computing resource based on the unsecurecomputing resource residing in a download memory region, a memory regionassociated with attachments for an email application, or a memory regionassociated with a web browser.

In Example 64, the subject matter of Example 63 includes, wherein thedownload memory region comprises a download folder, wherein the memoryregion associated with the web browser comprises the download folder,wherein the memory region associated with the attachments for the emailapplication comprises an attachment folder.

Example 65 is a method comprising: storing, in a memory of a computingmachine, computing resources including supervised computing resources;receiving a request to display a computing resource from the computingresources stored in the memory; causing display of the computingresource within a display region of a display device; determiningwhether the computing resource is a supervised computing resource fromthe supervised computing resources based on identification criteria; andupon determining that the computing resource is the supervised computingresource: causing display of an indicator adjacent to an edge of thedisplay region, wherein the indicator indicates that the computingresource is the supervised computing resource; or upon determining thatthe computing resource is not the supervised computing resource:foregoing causing display of the indicator.

In Example 66, the subject matter of Example 65 includes, wherein theidentification criteria comprise at least one of: the computing resourceresiding in a directory in a filesystem of the computing machine or of acloud storage unit, a file type of the computing resource, anapplication associated with the computing resource, a website associatedwith the computing resource, or the computing resource having beenprovided to or installed at the computing machine by a specified entity.

In Example 67, the subject matter of Examples 65-66 includes, whereinthe identification criteria comprise presence of the computing resourcewithin a predefined zone of the memory, wherein the predefined zone hasat least one security policy that is applicable to the computingresources within the predefined organizational zone and not applicableto the computing resources external to the predefined organizationalzone.

In Example 68, the subject matter of Examples 65-67 includes, whereinthe identification criteria comprise presence of the computing resourcewithin a predefined zone of the memory, wherein the predefined zone hasat least one network interface that is accessible to the computingresources within the predefined zone and not accessible to the computingresources external to the predefined zone.

In Example 69, the subject matter of Examples 65-68 includes, whereinthe identification criteria comprise a computing resource being accessedvia a supervised launcher at the computing machine or including datafrom an additional supervised computing resource.

In Example 70, the subject matter of Example 69 includes, wherein theadditional supervised computing resource comprises at least one of: afile, an email, a Software as a Service (SaaS) application or website,or a network destination or subnet.

In Example 71, the subject matter of Examples 65-70 includes, whereinthe indicator comprises a border occupying pixels external to thedisplay region with a distance less than or equal to n pixels from thedisplay region, wherein n is a positive integer, wherein the border hasa predefined color or design.

In Example 72, the subject matter of Examples 65-71 includes, whereinthe indicator comprises a badge having a circular or elliptical shapeoverlaying a portion of the edge of the display region.

In Example 73, the subject matter of Examples 65-72 includes, whereinthe memory of the computing machine stores the supervised computingresources and unsupervised computing resources, wherein the supervisedcomputing resources and the unsupervised computing resources aremutually exclusive.

In Example 74, the subject matter of Examples 65-73 includes, whereinthe display region comprises a portion of display space on the displaydevice.

Example 75 is at least one machine-readable medium includinginstructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause theprocessing circuitry to perform operations to implement of any ofExamples 1-74.

Example 76 is an apparatus comprising means to implement of any ofExamples 1-74.

Example 77 is a system to implement of any of Examples 1-74.

Example 78 is a method to implement of any of Examples 1-74.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In this document, the terms “including” and “inwhich” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms“including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, userequipment (UE), article, composition, formulation, or process thatincludes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in aclaim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover,in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc.are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numericalrequirements on their objects.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: storing, at a computingmachine, multiple supervised computing resources and multiple additionalcomputing resources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resourcesare associated with a security policy; causing, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display simultaneously, all or a portion of avisual representation of a specified supervised computing resource andall or a portion of a visual representation of a specified additionalcomputing resource, wherein the visual representation of the specifiedsupervised computing resource comprises data generated during executionof software associated with the specified supervised computing resource,wherein the visual representation of the specified additional computingresource comprises data generated during execution of softwareassociated with the specified additional computing resource; applyingsecurity rules from the security policy to the specified supervisedcomputing resource, wherein applying the security rules comprises atleast facilitating tracking, by a supervision service, activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified supervised computingresource; forgoing facilitating tracking, by the supervision service,activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedadditional computing resource and with respect to activity on thecomputing machine that is not associated with one or more of themultiple supervised computing resources; and displaying, in associationwith the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource, a visual indicator indicating that tracking is ongoing, thevisual indicator comprising a border for the visual representation ofthe specified supervised computing resource, the border occupying pointsoutside the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource that are within a distance of n or fewer pixels from the visualrepresentation of the specified supervised computing resource unlessthose pixels are occupied by visual representations of other computingresources that are more dominant than the specified supervised computingresource in a computing resource stack, wherein n is a positive integer.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional computing resourcescomprise personal computing resources, wherein the supervised computingresources comprise business computing resources, wherein the multiplesupervised computing resources and the multiple additional computingresources comprise files, cloud file storage access, applications orwebsites.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: foregoingapplying security rules from the security policy to the specifiedadditional computing resource.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinapplying the security rules comprises blocking, by communicating with ahardware driver of the computing machine, copying data from thespecified supervised computing resource to the specified additionalcomputing resource.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the visualindicator comprises a badge adjacent to a region of the display unitoccupied by the visual representation of the specified supervisedcomputing resource.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity ofthe computing machine with respect to the specified supervised computingresource and the activity of the computing machine with respect to thespecified additional computing resource comprise network traffic.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the activity of the computing machine withrespect to the specified supervised computing resource and the activityof the computing machine with respect to the specified additionalcomputing resource comprise internet browsing.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the activity of the computing machine with respect to thespecified supervised computing resource and the activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified additional computingresource comprise camera or microphone input activity.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: storing information transmitted from thecomputing machine to the supervision service; and providing for display,in response to a user request, of a visual representation of theinformation transmitted from the computing machine to the supervisionservice.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the supervision servicecomprises at least one of: a cloud-based supervision service, one ormore servers, or an administrator computing device associated with thesecurity policy.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the security rulescomprise one or more rules blocking a set of operations from thespecified supervised computing resource to the specified additionalcomputing resource, wherein the set of operations comprises at least oneof: a drag and drop operation, a copy and paste operation, a cut andpaste operation, a key log operation, a file download operation, a fileupload operation, a file attachment operation, a printing operation, anopening a specific website operation, opening a category of websiteoperation, an application launching operation or a screenshot operation.12. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the security rules comprisesblocking, by communicating with a controller of the computing machine,copying data from the specified supervised computing resource to thespecified additional computing resource.
 13. The method of claim 1,further comprising: causing the display unit to terminate display of thevisual representation of the specified additional computing resource inresponse to a user input; and causing the display unit to continuedisplay of the visual representation of the specified supervisedcomputing resource and the visual indicator indicating that tracking isongoing.
 14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storinginstructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause theprocessing circuitry to perform operations comprising: storing, at acomputing machine, multiple supervised computing resources and multipleadditional computing resources, wherein the multiple supervisedcomputing resources are associated with a security policy; causing, viaa native computing environment of the computing machine, a display unitcoupled with the computing machine to display simultaneously, all or aportion of a visual representation of a specified supervised computingresource and all or a portion of a visual representation of a specifiedadditional computing resource, wherein the visual representation of thespecified supervised computing resource comprises data generated duringexecution of software associated with the specified supervised computingresource, wherein the visual representation of the specified additionalcomputing resource comprises data generated during execution of softwareassociated with the specified additional computing resource; applyingsecurity rules from the security policy to the specified supervisedcomputing resource, wherein applying the security rules comprises atleast facilitating tracking, by a supervision service, activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified supervised computingresource; forgoing facilitating tracking, by the supervision service,activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedadditional computing resource and with respect to activity on thecomputing machine that is not associated with one or more of themultiple supervised computing resources; and displaying, in associationwith the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource, a visual indicator indicating that tracking is ongoing, thevisual indicator comprising a border for the visual representation ofthe specified supervised computing resource, the border occupying pointsoutside the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource that are within a distance of n or fewer pixels from the visualrepresentation of the specified supervised computing resource unlessthose pixels are occupied by visual representations of other computingresources that are more dominant than the specified supervised computingresource in a computing resource stack, wherein n is a positive integer.15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the additionalcomputing resources comprise personal computing resources, wherein thesupervised computing resources comprise business computing resources,wherein the multiple supervised computing resources and the multipleadditional computing resources comprise files, cloud file storageaccess, applications or websites.
 16. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 14, the operations further comprising: foregoing applying securityrules from the security policy to the specified additional computingresource.
 17. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thevisual indicator comprises a badge adjacent to a region of the displayunit occupied by the visual representation of the specified supervisedcomputing resource.
 18. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, whereinthe activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource comprisenetwork traffic.
 19. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, whereinthe activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource compriseinternet browsing.
 20. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, whereinthe activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedsupervised computing resource and the activity of the computing machinewith respect to the specified additional computing resource comprisecamera or microphone input activity.
 21. A system comprising: processingcircuitry; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed byprocessing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to performoperations comprising: storing, at a computing machine, multiplesupervised computing resources and multiple additional computingresources, wherein the multiple supervised computing resources areassociated with a security policy; causing, via a native computingenvironment of the computing machine, a display unit coupled with thecomputing machine to display simultaneously, all or a portion of avisual representation of a specified supervised computing resource andall or a portion of a visual representation of a specified additionalcomputing resource, wherein the visual representation of the specifiedsupervised computing resource comprises data generated during executionof software associated with the specified supervised computing resource,wherein the visual representation of the specified additional computingresource comprises data generated during execution of softwareassociated with the specified additional computing resource; applyingsecurity rules from the security policy to the specified supervisedcomputing resource, wherein applying the security rules comprises atleast facilitating tracking, by a supervision service, activity of thecomputing machine with respect to the specified supervised computingresource; forgoing facilitating tracking, by the supervision service,activity of the computing machine with respect to the specifiedadditional computing resource and with respect to activity on thecomputing machine that is not associated with one or more of themultiple supervised computing resources; and displaying, in associationwith the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource, a visual indicator indicating that tracking is ongoing, thevisual indicator comprising a border for the visual representation ofthe specified supervised computing resource, the border occupying pointsoutside the visual representation of the specified supervised computingresource that are within a distance of n or fewer pixels from the visualrepresentation of the specified supervised computing resource unlessthose pixels are occupied by visual representations of other computingresources that are more dominant than the specified supervised computingresource in a computing resource stack, wherein n is a positive integer.